Can you snorkel in Whitsundays today?

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

What is the best time of day to snorkel in Whitsundays?

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 Whitsundays 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.

Whitsundays Snorkel Report Today

Australia · Updated Tue 04:15 (AEST) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Marginal Report Wed 10:40

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

Score: 3.6/10

Best time: Thu 17:00

Main risk: Waves

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

Best afternoon signal: Wed 16:00 (Fair). Peak afternoon wind is about 8.2 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:38

Sunset

17:42

Water

20.7°C

Max air

21.2°C

Sky

Partly cloudy

52% 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

Wednesday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Friday

⚠️ fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

Thu 07:00 — Fair (0.54) · still limited by waves, wind
Thu 03:00 — Fair (0.43) · still limited by waves, wind
Thu 06:00 — Fair (0.41) · still limited by waves, wind

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (51 hours)
Tide/current (46 hours)
Wind (43 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 20:00

Wed 08:00, Wed 20:00, Thu 08:00, Thu 21:00

Nearby alternatives in Australia

Heron Island

462 km away

✅ Good

Lady Elliot Island

572 km away

❌ Poor

Byron Bay

1041 km away

⚠️ Fair

Lord Howe Island

1607 km away

❌ Poor

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Sat 00:00 – Tue 00:00 (AEST)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.63 around Sat 14:00; 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 0.14m to 0.42m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 0.46 to 4.73m/s).

Tides range from -0.87m to 2.43m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Sat 00:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 01:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 02:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 03:00 fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 04:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 05:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 06:00 good 🌟 Good

Sat 07:00 good 🌟 Good

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

Sat 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 21:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 22:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sat 23:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 00:00 good 🌟 Good

Sun 01:00 good 🌟 Good

Sun 02:00 good 🌟 Good

Sun 03:00 excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 04:00 excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 05:00 excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 06:00 excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 07:00 excellent ✅ Excellent

Sun 08:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 09:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 10:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 11:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 12:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 13:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 14:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 15:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 16:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 17:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 18:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 19:00 poor ❌ Limited

Sun 20:00 poor ❌ Limited

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

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
Sat 00:00	0.42 · high	4.72 · good	21.20 · good	fair
Sat 01:00	0.40 · high	4.72 · good	21.20 · good	fair
Sat 02:00	0.40 · high	4.73 · good	21.30 · good	fair
Sat 03:00	0.38 · high	4.61 · good	21.30 · good	fair
Sat 04:00	0.36 · good	4.42 · good	21.30 · good	good
Sat 05:00	0.36 · good	4.24 · good	21.40 · good	good
Sat 06:00	0.34 · good	4.03 · good	21.40 · good	good
Sat 07:00	0.32 · good	4.07 · good	21.40 · good	good
Sat 08:00	0.32 · good	4.08 · good	21.40 · good	poor
Sat 09:00	0.30 · good	3.91 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 10:00	0.28 · good	3.09 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 11:00	0.28 · good	3.07 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 12:00	0.26 · good	2.95 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 13:00	0.24 · good	2.62 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 14:00	0.24 · good	2.25 · good	21.30 · good	poor
Sat 15:00	0.22 · good	2.05 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 16:00	0.22 · good	2.10 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 17:00	0.20 · good	2.05 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 18:00	0.20 · good	1.60 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 19:00	0.18 · good	1.21 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 20:00	0.18 · good	1.03 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 21:00	0.16 · good	0.46 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 22:00	0.16 · good	1.46 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sat 23:00	0.14 · good	2.06 · good	21.20 · good	poor
Sun 00:00	0.14 · good	2.31 · good	21.30 · good	good
Sun 01:00	0.14 · good	2.01 · good	21.40 · good	good
Sun 02:00	0.12 · good	1.88 · good	21.50 · good	good
Sun 03:00	0.12 · good	2.06 · good	21.70 · good	excellent
Sun 04:00	0.12 · good	1.66 · good	21.80 · good	excellent
Sun 05:00	0.12 · good	1.14 · good	21.90 · good	excellent
Sun 06:00	0.12 · good	1.57 · good	22.00 · good	excellent
Sun 07:00	0.12 · good	1.64 · good	22.00 · good	excellent
Sun 08:00	0.12 · good	1.94 · good	21.70 · good	poor
Sun 09:00	0.12 · good	3.04 · good	21.70 · good	poor
Sun 10:00	0.12 · good	2.78 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Sun 11:00	0.12 · good	2.16 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Sun 12:00	0.12 · good	2.36 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 13:00	0.12 · good	2.29 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 14:00	0.14 · good	1.71 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 15:00	0.14 · good	1.50 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 16:00	0.14 · good	1.55 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 17:00	0.14 · good	1.51 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 18:00	0.14 · good	1.61 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 19:00	0.16 · good	1.41 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 20:00	0.16 · good	1.13 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 21:00	0.18 · good	2.12 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 22:00	0.18 · good	2.30 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Sun 23:00	0.20 · good	2.23 · good	21.50 · good	poor
Mon 00:00	0.20 · good	2.10 · good	21.50 · good	good
Mon 01:00	0.20 · good	2.98 · good	21.60 · good	good
Mon 02:00	0.20 · good	2.75 · good	21.70 · good	good
Mon 03:00	0.20 · good	2.66 · good	21.70 · good	good
Mon 04:00	0.20 · good	2.87 · good	21.80 · good	good
Mon 05:00	0.20 · good	2.93 · good	21.90 · good	good
Mon 06:00	0.20 · good	2.96 · good	21.90 · good	good
Mon 07:00	0.20 · good	2.75 · good	21.90 · good	good
Mon 08:00	0.20 · good	2.63 · good	21.90 · good	poor
Mon 09:00	0.20 · good	2.80 · good	21.80 · good	poor
Mon 10:00	0.20 · good	3.10 · good	21.80 · good	poor
Mon 11:00	0.22 · good	3.38 · good	21.70 · good	poor
Mon 12:00	0.22 · good	3.79 · good	21.70 · good	poor
Mon 13:00	0.24 · good	3.62 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 14:00	0.24 · good	3.48 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 15:00	0.26 · good	3.35 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 16:00	0.26 · good	3.25 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 17:00	0.26 · good	3.20 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 18:00	0.26 · good	3.19 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 19:00	0.28 · good	3.26 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 20:00	0.28 · good	3.37 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 21:00	0.30 · good	3.49 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 22:00	0.32 · good	3.92 · good	21.60 · good	poor
Mon 23:00	0.32 · good	4.19 · good	21.60 · good	poor