Merewether Beach Swell Window
Newcastle, NSW, Australia · part of the Merewether Beach spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 85°–190° (E–S)
- Best direction
- ~135° (SE)
- Period sweet spot
- 10–15 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 3–15 ft
- Resulting faces
- 2–15 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
The point takes swell from east round to south, roughly 85 to 190 degrees, with the sweet spot in the south-east to south-south-east — 120 to 170. East-south-east hits the reef almost head-on, while a straight south swell wraps the Merewether–Glenrock headland and loses height on the way in; north of about 85 degrees the swell misses the point and belongs to the sand at Dixon Park. Ten seconds and more organises the reefs; 14 to 17 seconds of polar groundswell gives the longest, cleanest walls.
Because southerly swell wraps in, the face at the point usually runs below the open-ocean number: in the May 2020 swell 4.8-to-6.8-metre buoy heights became 10-to-15-foot faces at Third Reef, roughly half to two-thirds of the buoy, while a modest direct east-south-east swell shows close to full size at Ladies. Ladies and the Rocks work from about two feet to six; Third Reef takes over from six and holds to fifteen.