Home All Beaches Bells Beach
🇦🇺 Torquay, Victoria

Bells Beach Surf Report

Live conditions · Updated every 30 minutes · Always free

Last updated: 9:00 AM AEST · Data may be delayed
7 /10
Great Conditions
Thursday, April 23, 2026

Great surf today. waist to chest high waves (2.7ft), glassy conditions, outgoing tide. Consistent and clean — well worth the session.

⏱ Best time to paddle out
7AM – 9AM
Score 7/10 · Great

Current Conditions

🌊
Wave Height
2.7ft
0.82m open ocean · 0.6m swell
Breaking waves typically 60–80% of this
📡
Swell Period
9.2s
Mixed swell
💨
Wind
Glassy
N · Perfect surface ✓
🌡️
Water Temp
63°F
17°C · 2/2mm or 3/2mm wetsuit
🌊
Current Tide
2ft
↓ Falling · MLLW
Best Window Today
7AM–9AM
Score 7/10 · Great

Today's Surf Timeline

Hourly surf score from 5am to 9pm. Taller bar = better conditions. Best window highlighted in teal.

5AM
6
3ft
6AM
6
3ft
7AM
7
2.9ft
8AM
7
2.8ft
9AM
7
2.7ft
10AM
6
2.6ft
11AM
6
2.6ft
12PM
6
2.4ft
1PM
6
2.4ft
2PM
6
2.3ft
3PM
7
2.2ft
4PM
7
2.2ft
5PM
7
2.1ft
6PM
6
2ft
7PM
5
2ft
8PM
6
1.9ft
9PM
6
1.9ft
Epic/Great   Good   Fair   Poor

Bells Beach Surf Guide

Break type Reef Break
Skill level Intermediate to Advanced
Best season March – September
Best swell SW to SSW, 6–12 ft, 14+ second period
Best wind Offshore NE/N
Best tide Low to mid tide
Crowds Moderate — surprisingly manageable for its fame
Parking Free at Bells Beach car park — easy year-round access.

Bells Beach is Australia's most legendary surf break — a powerful reef point on Victoria's Surf Coast that has hosted the Rip Curl Pro Easter Classic continuously since 1973, making it the world's longest-running professional surfing event.

Southern Ocean swells generated by intense low-pressure systems arrive at Bells with tremendous power. The wave responds best to groundswells in the 6–12 foot range with a 14-second or longer period. At its best, Bells throws up a long, powerful right-hand wall that peels with exceptional consistency along the reef ledge, allowing surfers to generate serious speed and link multiple turns.

Water temperatures drop to around 13°C in the Victorian winter — a 4/3mm wetsuit is the smart choice for extended sessions from May through September. The car park sits directly above the break, making it one of the more accessible world-class breaks to reach. Note that the walk down the cliff path to the beach is steep — not ideal for heavy equipment.

Best Months to Surf Bells Beach

Jan
Fair
Summer — small swells, warm water
Feb
Fair
Still small, best months approaching
Mar
Good
Autumn swells building — Rip Curl Pro time
Apr
Great
Easter Classic season — powerful swells
May
Great
Consistent Southern Ocean groundswell
Jun
Epic
Peak winter — massive powerful surf
Jul
Epic
Best month — cold but incredible waves
Aug
Great
Winter swell continues, very cold water
Sep
Good
Spring transition, swells easing
Oct
Fair
Smaller swells, water warming
Nov
Fair
Building toward summer, inconsistent
Dec
Fair
Summer begins, small and crowded
Written & reviewed by

Adam Moore

Surf Journalist & Ocean Data Specialist

Adam Moore has been surfing coastlines from Cornwall to California for over 15 years. A former marine science graduate from the University of Exeter and contributing writer for several surf publications, Adam built SurfTidal to solve a simple problem: surf forecast tools designed for data scientists, not for surfers. He believes anyone heading to the beach deserves accurate, honest, plain-English conditions — free of charge. When he's not in the water, he's analysing swell models, testing forecast accuracy, and writing the beach guides you'll find across this site.