MARINE REPORT / 72 HOURS

Heron Island Snorkel Report Today

Australia · Updated Sun 15:49 (AEST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Data updated Sun 15:49 (AEST)

Heron Island looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Sun 17:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Right now (forecast)

Poor · 3.3/10

Sun 16:00 (AEST)

Later today

Poor · 3.3/10

Sun 17:00 (AEST)

Next three days

Fair · 5.1/10

Wed 11:00 (AEST)

Model estimates using Open-Meteo; not observations or safety guarantees. Check official advisories and conditions at the beach.

Score: 3.3/10

Best time: Sun 17:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Sun 17:00 (Poor). Peak afternoon wind is about 10.5 m/s.

Email me when it is good Compare nearby spots

Best nearby spots later today

Cairns 5.5/10 Good · Sun 18:00

Weakest nearby later today

Lady Elliot Island

Sunrise

05:17

Sunset

17:58

Water

23.2°C

Max air

22.7°C

Sky

Clear

13% cloud

No good model window in the next 72 hours

Use the best-available section for the least-bad times.

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Sunday

❌ Poor conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Monday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Tuesday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

  • Wed 11:00: Fair (0.51) · still limited by waves, tide/current
  • Wed 10:00: Fair (0.49) · still limited by waves, wind
  • Wed 12:00: Fair (0.42) · still limited by waves, tide/current

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

  • Waves (70 hours)
  • Wind (63 hours)
  • Tide/current (62 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

Drift estimate from wind, swell, current and warm water.

Low · 26/100

Low peak drift risk around Sun 22:00.

water is warm enough for occasional jellyfish; surface drift/current is noticeable; local shoreline exposure is not mapped yet.

Sightings override the model: if you see small purple jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, treat them as sting-capable and give them space.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Tue 04:00

Mon 15:00, Tue 04:00, Tue 16:00, Wed 05:00

Nearby snorkel spot map

Compare nearby spot forecasts for later today before choosing a beach.

Cairns Good · Sun 18:00 5.5/10 Port Douglas Fair · Sun 18:00 5.1/10 Whitsundays Fair · Sun 17:00 3.9/10 Lady Elliot Island Poor · Sun 17:00 2.9/10

Forecast spot map

Use the map to see where the compared spots sit. Open a card for the hourly forecast.

Cairns Port Douglas Whitsundays Lady Elliot Island
  1. Cairns
  2. Port Douglas
  3. Whitsundays
  4. Lady Elliot Island

This is a location diagram, not a marine chart. Check the shore and local signs in person.

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Lady Elliot Island

110 km away

❌ Poor

Whitsundays

462 km away

⚠️ Fair

Byron Bay

603 km away

⚠️ Fair

Flynn Reef

951 km away

⚠️ Fair

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Mon 16:00 – Thu 16:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.76 around Mon 17:00; 8 of 24 hours are good, fair, or excellent.

Score trend, higher is better. Excellent ≥ 0.72, good 0.55–0.72, fair 0.35–0.55.

Conditions (24h trends)

Tap a chart to load just that series.

20/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.22m to 0.5m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 22/24 sampled hours (range 3.28 to 6.61m/s).

Tides range from -0.31m to 1.42m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview
Good 🌟 Good
Excellent ✅ Excellent
Poor ❌ Limited
Poor ❌ Limited
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Good 🌟 Good
Good 🌟 Good
Good 🌟 Good
Good 🌟 Good
Fair ⚠️ Fair
Fair ⚠️ Fair
Fair ⚠️ Fair
Fair ⚠️ Fair
Poor ❌ Limited
Poor ❌ Limited
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Fair ⚠️ Fair
Fair ⚠️ Fair
Poor ❌ Limited
Poor ❌ Limited
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Poor ❌ Limited
Scoring methodology (for technical users)

We score each hour from 0 to 1 using daylight and these weighted components:

  • Wave height (35%): best below 0.36m, then decreases as it rises.
  • Wind speed (25%): best below 5.4m/s, lower is better.
  • Sea surface temperature (15%): best within 20.6°C to 30.4°C.
  • Tide and currents (15%): best around slack/high-tide windows.
  • Daylight (10%): visibility is better in daylight, so night hours score lower.
Detailed hourly data table
Time Wave (m) Wind (m/s) Sea temp (°C) Status
Mon 16:00 0.22 · good 3.92 · good 22.70 · good Good
Mon 17:00 0.22 · good 4.00 · good 22.70 · good Excellent
Mon 18:00 0.22 · good 3.85 · good 22.70 · good Poor
Mon 19:00 0.22 · good 4.00 · good 22.60 · good Poor
Mon 20:00 0.24 · good 4.51 · good 22.60 · good Poor
Mon 21:00 0.28 · good 4.11 · good 22.50 · good Poor
Mon 22:00 0.30 · good 4.94 · good 22.40 · good Poor
Mon 23:00 0.30 · good 4.47 · good 22.40 · good Poor
Tue 00:00 0.28 · good 3.87 · good 22.40 · good Poor
Tue 01:00 0.28 · good 3.62 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 02:00 0.22 · good 3.58 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 03:00 0.22 · good 3.28 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 04:00 0.22 · good 3.46 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 05:00 0.24 · good 4.16 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 06:00 0.24 · good 4.56 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 07:00 0.26 · good 4.63 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 08:00 0.28 · good 4.48 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 09:00 0.30 · good 4.30 · good 22.30 · good Poor
Tue 10:00 0.32 · good 4.40 · good 22.30 · good Good
Tue 11:00 0.34 · good 5.02 · good 22.40 · good Good
Tue 12:00 0.38 · high 5.20 · good 22.40 · good Good
Tue 13:00 0.40 · high 4.94 · good 22.50 · good Good
Tue 14:00 0.46 · high 5.81 · high 22.50 · good Fair
Tue 15:00 0.50 · high 6.61 · high 22.60 · good Fair
Tue 16:00 0.56 · high 7.25 · high 22.60 · good Fair
Tue 17:00 0.62 · high 7.67 · high 22.60 · good Fair
Tue 18:00 0.70 · high 8.31 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Tue 19:00 0.76 · high 8.89 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Tue 20:00 0.80 · high 9.19 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Tue 21:00 0.78 · high 8.92 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Tue 22:00 0.82 · high 9.11 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Tue 23:00 0.84 · high 8.52 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Wed 00:00 0.84 · high 8.94 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 01:00 0.86 · high 8.97 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 02:00 0.88 · high 9.06 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 03:00 0.82 · high 8.79 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 04:00 0.84 · high 8.79 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 05:00 0.84 · high 8.67 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 06:00 0.86 · high 8.69 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 07:00 0.86 · high 8.86 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 08:00 0.86 · high 8.93 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 09:00 0.88 · high 9.14 · high 22.50 · good Poor
Wed 10:00 0.88 · high 9.28 · high 22.50 · good Fair
Wed 11:00 0.88 · high 9.14 · high 22.60 · good Fair
Wed 12:00 0.90 · high 8.93 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Wed 13:00 0.90 · high 8.96 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Wed 14:00 0.90 · high 9.27 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Wed 15:00 0.88 · high 9.45 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Wed 16:00 0.88 · high 9.19 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Wed 17:00 0.90 · high 9.03 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Wed 18:00 0.94 · high 8.93 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Wed 19:00 0.96 · high 9.31 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Wed 20:00 0.98 · high 9.53 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Wed 21:00 1.00 · high 9.17 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Wed 22:00 1.02 · high 9.17 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Wed 23:00 1.02 · high 9.09 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Thu 00:00 1.02 · high 9.01 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Thu 01:00 1.02 · high 8.93 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 02:00 1.00 · high 9.72 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 03:00 1.00 · high 9.57 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 04:00 1.02 · high 9.70 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 05:00 1.06 · high 9.86 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 06:00 1.12 · high 9.24 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 07:00 1.16 · high 10.67 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Thu 08:00 1.16 · high 10.91 · high 22.60 · good Poor
Thu 09:00 1.16 · high 10.87 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 10:00 1.16 · high 9.97 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 11:00 1.16 · high 8.50 · high 22.70 · good Poor
Thu 12:00 1.16 · high 10.88 · high 22.80 · good Poor
Thu 13:00 1.16 · high 10.33 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Thu 14:00 1.16 · high 10.12 · high 22.90 · good Poor
Thu 15:00 1.16 · high 9.72 · high 23.00 · good Poor