Can you snorkel in Heron Island today?

Yes. The next good snorkeling window in Heron Island starts Thu 07:00. Around 2% of the next 72 hours are suitable.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Heron Island?

Snorkel during daylight, ideally in the morning before the wind picks up, and around high slack tide when water is clearest and currents are weakest. SnorkelForecast scores every daylight hour in Heron Island so you can pick the calmest window.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide — within about an hour of the high-tide peak when currents are weakest — is the safest, clearest window. Strong low tides, strong tidal flow near channels or headlands, and large tidal-range days reduce score.

Heron Island Snorkel Report Today

Australia · Updated Tue 04:13 (AEST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Go in the best window Report Wed 07:17

Heron Island has a usable snorkeling window around Thu 17:00. The main thing to watch is waves.

Score: 3.9/10

Best time: Thu 17:00

Main risk: Waves

Best morning signal: Wed 11:00 (Poor).

Best afternoon signal: Wed 17:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 7.7 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:32

Sunset

17:25

Water

20.6°C

Max air

21.0°C

Sky

Clear

21% cloud

Good window is available today

Next safe window: Thu 07:00 (2% of next 72h are suitable)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

✅ good conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Friday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Next safe window starts at Thu 07:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (54 hours)
Tide/current (42 hours)
Wind (40 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 26/100

Low drift risk now.

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: Wed 17:00

Wed 05:00, Wed 17:00, Thu 06:00, Thu 18:00

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Lady Elliot Island

110 km away

❌ Poor

Whitsundays

462 km away

❌ Poor

Byron Bay

603 km away

❌ Poor

Lord Howe Island

1145 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Sun 21:00 – Wed 21:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.66 around Mon 13:00; 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.

24/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.2m to 0.26m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 0.27 to 4.09m/s).

Tides range from -0.9m to 2.15m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Sun 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 00:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 01:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 02:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 03:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 04:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 05:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 06:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 07:00 good 🌟 Good

Mon 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Mon 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 00:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 01:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 02:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 03:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 04:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 05:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 06:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 07:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Tue 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 03:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 04:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 05:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 06:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 20:00 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 and safety gate (outside daylight scores lower).

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Sun 21:00	0.22 · good	0.27 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Sun 22:00	0.22 · good	2.34 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Sun 23:00	0.22 · good	4.09 · good	21.00 · good	poor
Mon 00:00	0.22 · good	4.01 · good	21.00 · good	good
Mon 01:00	0.24 · good	3.58 · good	21.10 · good	good
Mon 02:00	0.24 · good	1.51 · good	21.10 · good	good
Mon 03:00	0.26 · good	1.72 · good	21.10 · good	good
Mon 04:00	0.26 · good	2.65 · good	21.20 · good	good
Mon 05:00	0.26 · good	2.18 · good	21.20 · good	good
Mon 06:00	0.26 · good	2.68 · good	21.20 · good	good
Mon 07:00	0.26 · good	2.45 · good	21.20 · good	good
Mon 08:00	0.26 · good	2.26 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Mon 09:00	0.26 · good	2.69 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Mon 10:00	0.24 · good	2.51 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Mon 11:00	0.24 · good	2.12 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 12:00	0.22 · good	2.20 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 13:00	0.22 · good	2.50 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 14:00	0.22 · good	2.68 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 15:00	0.22 · good	1.77 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 16:00	0.22 · good	1.01 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 17:00	0.20 · good	0.60 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 18:00	0.20 · good	1.05 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 19:00	0.20 · good	1.64 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 20:00	0.20 · good	1.86 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 21:00	0.20 · good	1.99 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 22:00	0.20 · good	2.84 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Mon 23:00	0.20 · good	3.79 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 00:00	0.20 · good	4.19 · good	21.10 · good	good
Tue 01:00	0.20 · good	3.36 · good	21.20 · good	good
Tue 02:00	0.20 · good	3.06 · good	21.20 · good	good
Tue 03:00	0.20 · good	4.55 · good	21.30 · good	good
Tue 04:00	0.20 · good	3.79 · good	21.40 · good	good
Tue 05:00	0.20 · good	3.90 · good	21.40 · good	good
Tue 06:00	0.20 · good	4.16 · good	21.40 · good	good
Tue 07:00	0.20 · good	4.11 · good	21.40 · good	good
Tue 08:00	0.22 · good	4.01 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Tue 09:00	0.22 · good	4.29 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 10:00	0.22 · good	4.68 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	0.22 · good	4.48 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Tue 12:00	0.22 · good	4.25 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 13:00	0.22 · good	3.93 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 14:00	0.24 · good	3.62 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 15:00	0.24 · good	3.82 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 16:00	0.28 · good	4.60 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Tue 17:00	0.32 · good	4.86 · good	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 18:00	0.36 · good	6.73 · high	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 19:00	0.44 · high	8.85 · high	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 20:00	0.50 · high	9.75 · high	21.10 · good	poor
Tue 21:00	0.58 · high	9.85 · high	21.00 · good	poor
Tue 22:00	0.62 · high	10.04 · high	21.00 · good	poor
Tue 23:00	0.68 · high	10.06 · high	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 00:00	0.72 · high	9.94 · high	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 01:00	0.70 · high	9.58 · high	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 02:00	0.66 · high	8.44 · high	21.00 · good	poor
Wed 03:00	0.64 · high	7.52 · high	21.00 · good	fair
Wed 04:00	0.64 · high	6.79 · high	21.00 · good	fair
Wed 05:00	0.62 · high	6.60 · high	21.10 · good	fair
Wed 06:00	0.62 · high	7.02 · high	21.10 · good	fair
Wed 07:00	0.70 · high	8.06 · high	21.10 · good	poor
Wed 08:00	0.76 · high	8.51 · high	21.10 · good	poor
Wed 09:00	0.82 · high	9.70 · high	21.00 · good	poor
Wed 10:00	0.86 · high	12.50 · high	21.00 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	0.88 · high	11.15 · high	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 12:00	0.92 · high	11.31 · high	20.90 · good	poor
Wed 13:00	0.94 · high	11.64 · high	20.80 · good	poor
Wed 14:00	0.98 · high	11.35 · high	20.80 · good	poor
Wed 15:00	1.00 · high	11.72 · high	20.70 · good	poor
Wed 16:00	1.06 · high	11.47 · high	20.70 · good	poor
Wed 17:00	1.14 · high	12.24 · high	20.70 · good	poor
Wed 18:00	1.20 · high	13.40 · high	20.60 · good	poor
Wed 19:00	1.24 · high	13.36 · high	20.60 · good	poor
Wed 20:00	1.28 · high	12.73 · high	20.60 · good	poor