Can you snorkel in Ningaloo Reef today?

Yes. The next good snorkeling window in Ningaloo Reef starts Wed 08:00. Around 2% of the next 72 hours are suitable.

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Ningaloo Reef?

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 Ningaloo Reef 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.

Ningaloo Reef Snorkel Report Today

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

The skinny

Go in the best window Report Wed 03:51

Ningaloo Reef has a usable snorkeling window around Wed 18:00. The main thing to watch is waves.

Score: 6.0/10

Best time: Wed 18:00

Main risk: Waves

Best morning signal: Wed 10:00 (Fair).

Best afternoon signal: Wed 18:00 (Good). Peak afternoon wind is about 6.9 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

09:03

Sunset

19:59

Water

24.5°C

Max air

29.1°C

Sky

Clear

0% cloud

Good window is available today

Next safe window: Wed 08:00 (2% of next 72h are suitable)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Wednesday

✅ good conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Friday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Next safe window starts at Wed 08:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (58 hours)
Tide/current (47 hours)
Wind (33 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 34/100

Low drift risk now.

warm water supports seasonal jellyfish activity; 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 19:00

Tue 19:00, Wed 07:00, Wed 19:00, Thu 08:00, Thu 20:00

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Ningaloo - Coral Bay

56 km away

✅ Good

Rottnest Island

1057 km away

❌ Poor

Whitsundays

3663 km away

❌ Poor

Jervis Bay

3840 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Mon 17:00 – Thu 17:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.57 around Tue 11:00; 10 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 1.58m to 1.86m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 20/24 sampled hours (range 0.65 to 6.15m/s).

Tides range from -0.19m to 1.13m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

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 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 01:00 good 🌟 Good

Tue 02:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 03:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 04:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 05:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 06:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 07:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 08:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 09:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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 good 🌟 Good

Wed 01:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 02:00 good 🌟 Good

Wed 03:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 04:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 05:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 06:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 07:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 08:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 09:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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

Wed 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Wed 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Thu 00:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 01:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 02:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 03:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 04:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 05:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 06:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 07:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 08:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 09:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

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

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
Mon 17:00	1.86 · high	2.19 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 18:00	1.86 · high	1.49 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 19:00	1.86 · high	0.65 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 20:00	1.86 · high	1.06 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 21:00	1.86 · high	1.14 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 22:00	1.86 · high	0.81 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Mon 23:00	1.84 · high	0.92 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 00:00	1.84 · high	1.00 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 01:00	1.82 · high	0.87 · good	24.10 · good	good
Tue 02:00	1.82 · high	2.10 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 03:00	1.80 · high	5.44 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 04:00	1.78 · high	5.01 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 05:00	1.78 · high	5.89 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 06:00	1.76 · high	6.15 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 07:00	1.74 · high	6.06 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 08:00	1.72 · high	5.32 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 09:00	1.70 · high	4.43 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Tue 10:00	1.68 · high	2.53 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 11:00	1.68 · high	1.89 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 12:00	1.66 · high	1.60 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 13:00	1.64 · high	1.70 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 14:00	1.62 · high	1.58 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 15:00	1.60 · high	0.96 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 16:00	1.58 · high	1.98 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 17:00	1.58 · high	1.66 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 18:00	1.56 · high	2.01 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 19:00	1.54 · high	2.89 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 20:00	1.54 · high	3.18 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Tue 21:00	1.52 · high	3.29 · good	24.00 · good	poor
Tue 22:00	1.50 · high	3.48 · good	24.00 · good	poor
Tue 23:00	1.48 · high	3.45 · good	24.00 · good	poor
Wed 00:00	1.46 · high	3.22 · good	24.00 · good	good
Wed 01:00	1.46 · high	3.07 · good	24.00 · good	fair
Wed 02:00	1.44 · high	2.62 · good	24.10 · good	good
Wed 03:00	1.44 · high	3.80 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Wed 04:00	1.44 · high	3.86 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Wed 05:00	1.42 · high	4.43 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Wed 06:00	1.42 · high	5.51 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Wed 07:00	1.58 · high	6.61 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Wed 08:00	1.58 · high	6.48 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Wed 09:00	1.58 · high	5.50 · high	24.10 · good	fair
Wed 10:00	1.56 · high	3.94 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 11:00	1.56 · high	3.58 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 12:00	1.54 · high	3.78 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 13:00	1.52 · high	3.47 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 14:00	1.52 · high	3.47 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 15:00	1.50 · high	3.11 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 16:00	1.50 · high	3.26 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 17:00	1.48 · high	3.61 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 18:00	1.48 · high	3.61 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 19:00	1.48 · high	3.58 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 20:00	1.46 · high	3.49 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 21:00	1.46 · high	3.63 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 22:00	1.46 · high	4.18 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Wed 23:00	1.46 · high	4.54 · good	24.10 · good	poor
Thu 00:00	1.46 · high	4.51 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Thu 01:00	1.46 · high	3.87 · good	24.10 · good	fair
Thu 02:00	1.46 · high	4.54 · good	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 03:00	1.46 · high	4.81 · good	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 04:00	1.48 · high	5.83 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 05:00	1.48 · high	6.60 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 06:00	1.50 · high	6.77 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 07:00	1.52 · high	6.57 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 08:00	1.52 · high	6.18 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 09:00	1.54 · high	5.41 · high	24.20 · good	fair
Thu 10:00	1.54 · high	3.81 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 11:00	1.54 · high	3.25 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 12:00	1.54 · high	3.26 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 13:00	1.54 · high	3.48 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 14:00	1.52 · high	3.65 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 15:00	1.52 · high	3.36 · good	24.20 · good	poor
Thu 16:00	1.52 · high	3.06 · good	24.20 · good	poor