Can you snorkel in Lord Howe Island today?

Conditions look marginal right now — no clearly safe snorkeling window is forecast in Lord Howe Island over the next 72 hours. Check the hourly table for the calmest period.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Lord Howe 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 Lord Howe 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.

Lord Howe Island Snorkel Report Today

Australia · Updated Fri 03:24 (AEST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Report Sat 05:15

Lord Howe Island looks marginal today. The least-bad daylight window is around Mon 12:00, but waves is limiting the forecast.

Score: 3.2/10

Best time: Mon 12:00

Main risk: Waves

Best morning signal: Sat 10:00 (Poor).

Best afternoon signal: Sat 13:00 (Poor). Peak afternoon wind is about 8.8 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:17

Sunset

16:42

Water

19.4°C

Max air

17.8°C

Sky

Clear

30% cloud

No safe 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

Saturday

❌ poor conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Sunday

❌ poor conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Monday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Mon 02:00 — Fair (0.41) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Mon 01:00 — Fair (0.41) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Mon 00:00 — Fair (0.39) · still limited by waves, sea temperature

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (55 hours)
Sea temperature (55 hours)
Tide/current (55 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 18/100

Low drift risk now.

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: Sat 19:00

Sat 07:00, Sat 19:00, Sun 08:00, Sun 20:00

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Byron Bay

617 km away

✅ Good

Jervis Bay

870 km away

❌ Poor

Lady Elliot Island

1037 km away

❌ Poor

Heron Island

1145 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Wed 19:00 – Sat 19:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.0 around Thu 05:00; 0 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.

0/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 2.64m to 2.98m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 0/24 sampled hours (range 25.2 to 39.4m/s).

Tides range from -0.24m to 0.87m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Wed 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Fri 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 00:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 01:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 02:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 03:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 04:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 05:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 06:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 07:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 18:00 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
Wed 19:00	2.76 · high	36.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Wed 20:00	2.82 · high	37.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Wed 21:00	2.86 · high	38.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Wed 22:00	2.90 · high	39.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Wed 23:00	2.92 · high	39.20 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 00:00	2.96 · high	37.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 01:00	2.96 · high	37.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 02:00	2.98 · high	37.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 03:00	2.98 · high	37.70 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 04:00	2.96 · high	36.10 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 05:00	2.94 · high	34.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 06:00	2.92 · high	33.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 07:00	2.90 · high	37.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 08:00	2.90 · high	36.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 09:00	2.88 · high	37.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 10:00	2.86 · high	34.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 11:00	2.82 · high	33.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 12:00	2.80 · high	31.60 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 13:00	2.76 · high	27.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 14:00	2.74 · high	30.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 15:00	2.70 · high	29.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 16:00	2.68 · high	26.60 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 17:00	2.66 · high	25.20 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 18:00	2.64 · high	25.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 19:00	2.62 · high	25.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 20:00	2.62 · high	28.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Thu 21:00	2.60 · high	28.70 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 22:00	2.58 · high	27.60 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Thu 23:00	2.54 · high	27.30 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 00:00	2.52 · high	24.00 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 01:00	2.50 · high	26.40 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 02:00	2.50 · high	26.80 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 03:00	2.48 · high	25.30 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 04:00	2.48 · high	22.70 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 05:00	2.48 · high	22.60 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 06:00	2.48 · high	22.90 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 07:00	2.48 · high	23.40 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 08:00	2.50 · high	22.20 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 09:00	2.50 · high	21.60 · high	19.50 · out of range	poor
Fri 10:00	2.50 · high	24.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 11:00	2.52 · high	23.80 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 12:00	2.52 · high	24.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 13:00	2.50 · high	21.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 14:00	2.50 · high	21.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 15:00	2.48 · high	21.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 16:00	2.46 · high	23.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 17:00	2.44 · high	24.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 18:00	2.42 · high	24.10 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 19:00	2.40 · high	24.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 20:00	2.36 · high	23.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 21:00	2.34 · high	23.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 22:00	2.30 · high	24.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Fri 23:00	2.28 · high	24.00 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 00:00	2.24 · high	23.50 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 01:00	2.22 · high	25.10 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 02:00	2.18 · high	27.20 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 03:00	2.16 · high	27.80 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 04:00	2.14 · high	25.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 05:00	2.10 · high	21.60 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 06:00	2.08 · high	19.60 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 07:00	2.06 · high	18.60 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 08:00	2.06 · high	19.90 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 09:00	2.04 · high	18.80 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 10:00	2.02 · high	18.10 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 11:00	2.02 · high	18.40 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 12:00	2.00 · high	20.30 · high	19.40 · out of range	poor
Sat 13:00	2.20 · high	24.30 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 14:00	2.20 · high	24.50 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 15:00	2.20 · high	25.80 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 16:00	2.22 · high	24.00 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 17:00	2.22 · high	25.60 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor
Sat 18:00	2.24 · high	25.60 · high	19.20 · out of range	poor