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

Snorkel in daylight, if possible in the morning before the wind picks up. Currents are often weaker near high slack tide. SnorkelForecast scores each daylight hour for Rottnest Island.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide, within about an hour of the high-tide peak, often has weaker currents. Strong low tides and tidal flow near channels or headlands reduce the score.

Rottnest Island Snorkel Report Today

Australia · Updated Tue 02:51 (AEST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Data updated Tue 02:51 (AEST)

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

Right now (forecast)

Poor · 0.0/10

Tue 06:00 (AEST)

Later today

Fair · 4.1/10

Tue 17:00 (AEST)

Next three days

Fair · 4.9/10

Thu 13:00 (AEST)

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

Score: 4.1/10

Best time: Tue 17:00

Main risk: Waves

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

Best afternoon signal: Tue 17:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 6.8 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

08:09

Sunset

20:13

Water

18.7°C

Max air

17.8°C

Sky

Clear

0% 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

Tuesday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Wednesday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Thu 13:00: Fair (0.49) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Thu 14:00: Fair (0.49) · still limited by waves, sea temperature
Wed 14:00: Fair (0.47) · still limited by waves, sea temperature

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (67 hours)
Sea temperature (67 hours)
Tide/current (37 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 15/100

Low peak drift risk around Tue 08:00.

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 08:00

Wed 08:00, Thu 09:00, Thu 23:00

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Esperance

629 km away

❌ Poor

Ningaloo - Coral Bay

1000 km away

❌ Poor

Ningaloo Reef

1057 km away

❌ Poor

Exmouth

1129 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Mon 06:00 – Thu 06:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.35 around Mon 12:00; 1 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 2.34m to 2.9m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 1/24 sampled hours (range 4.61 to 11.37m/s).

Tides range from -0.38m to 0.29m; 1 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Mon 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 12:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

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 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

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 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

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 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 18:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 19:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 20:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

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

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 06:00	2.90 · high	6.97 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 07:00	2.90 · high	6.82 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 08:00	2.86 · high	6.37 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 09:00	2.84 · high	6.05 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 10:00	2.80 · high	6.69 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 11:00	2.76 · high	5.87 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 12:00	2.74 · high	4.61 · good	18.30 · out of range	Fair
Mon 13:00	2.70 · high	5.92 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 14:00	2.68 · high	7.31 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 15:00	2.68 · high	8.83 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 16:00	2.66 · high	9.31 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 17:00	2.66 · high	11.37 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 18:00	2.66 · high	10.65 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 19:00	2.66 · high	8.52 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 20:00	2.64 · high	7.84 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 21:00	2.60 · high	7.73 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 22:00	2.58 · high	8.57 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 23:00	2.54 · high	9.64 · high	18.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 00:00	2.52 · high	10.10 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 01:00	2.48 · high	10.28 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 02:00	2.44 · high	10.25 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 03:00	2.42 · high	10.46 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 04:00	2.38 · high	10.49 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 05:00	2.34 · high	9.42 · high	18.30 · out of range	Poor
Tue 06:00	2.30 · high	9.06 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 07:00	2.26 · high	8.50 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 08:00	2.22 · high	9.38 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 09:00	2.20 · high	9.29 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 10:00	2.16 · high	8.86 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 11:00	2.16 · high	9.69 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 12:00	2.18 · high	9.88 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 13:00	2.18 · high	9.18 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 14:00	2.20 · high	7.45 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 15:00	2.20 · high	6.69 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 16:00	2.22 · high	7.55 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 17:00	2.26 · high	6.32 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 18:00	2.28 · high	5.94 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 19:00	2.32 · high	6.64 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 20:00	2.34 · high	7.36 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 21:00	2.38 · high	9.13 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 22:00	2.44 · high	9.15 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Tue 23:00	2.42 · high	8.97 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Wed 00:00	2.40 · high	9.08 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 01:00	2.38 · high	9.31 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 02:00	2.36 · high	9.16 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 03:00	2.34 · high	9.07 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 04:00	2.32 · high	8.56 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 05:00	2.30 · high	8.47 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 06:00	2.36 · high	8.51 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 07:00	2.34 · high	8.41 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 08:00	2.32 · high	8.23 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 09:00	2.32 · high	8.18 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 10:00	2.30 · high	9.35 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 11:00	2.30 · high	9.39 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Wed 12:00	2.28 · high	9.48 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 13:00	2.28 · high	9.38 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 14:00	2.26 · high	7.45 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 15:00	2.22 · high	5.78 · high	18.20 · out of range	Poor
Wed 16:00	2.20 · high	4.91 · good	18.20 · out of range	Fair
Wed 17:00	2.16 · high	5.77 · high	18.20 · out of range	Fair
Wed 18:00	2.14 · high	6.31 · high	18.20 · out of range	Fair
Wed 19:00	2.10 · high	6.65 · high	18.20 · out of range	Fair
Wed 20:00	2.08 · high	6.45 · high	18.10 · out of range	Fair
Wed 21:00	2.02 · high	6.68 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 22:00	2.00 · high	6.86 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Wed 23:00	1.98 · high	6.16 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Thu 00:00	1.98 · high	7.93 · high	18.10 · out of range	Poor
Thu 01:00	1.96 · high	9.30 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Thu 02:00	1.94 · high	9.06 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Thu 03:00	1.94 · high	7.38 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Thu 04:00	1.92 · high	6.54 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor
Thu 05:00	1.90 · high	5.90 · high	18.00 · out of range	Poor