Staying Home Sucks, home
Howea forsteriana Neds Beach Lord Howe Island 4June2011
Lord Howe Island, the nearest town, 3 km away. Photo: Granitethighs, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

North Bay Dropoff

Dive site · Australia

Advanced divers and up

Is it worth the trip?

69Good out of 100 for your dates

Home sucks

2 days tie for best

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 78 out of 100

Sea
0.6 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
7kn
Air
20°C

Tue 3 · 78 out of 100

Sea
0.5 m
Wind
3 kn
Gusts
5kn
Air
21°C

Wed 4 · 51 out of 100

Sea
1.0 m
Wind
16 kn
Gusts
21knboats in
Air
21°C

Thu 5 · 64 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
10 kn
Gusts
12kn
Air
21°C

Fri 6 · 56 out of 100

Sea
1.1 m
Wind
14 kn
Gusts
21kn
Air
20°C

Sat 7 · 76 out of 100

Sea
0.9 m
Wind
7 kn
Gusts
10kn
Air
21°C

Sun 8 · 40 out of 100

Sea
0.8 m
Wind
21 kn
Gusts
28knboats in
Air
18°C

Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 169, good
  2. Mon 278, good
  3. Tue 378, good
  4. Wed 451, fair
  5. Thu 564, good
  6. Fri 656, fair
  7. Sat 776, good
  8. Sun 840, poor
  9. Mon 952, fair
  10. Tue 1061, good

The site in six facts

  • Down to 25 mits deepest
  • From a boathow you get in
  • Advancedand up
  • Water 21 °C5 mm wetsuit
  • Faces NEswell from there reaches it
  • Best in Dec7 good days in 7

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.

Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.

Sea and wind forecast and score for each day at North Bay Dropoff
DayScoreSeaWindGustsAir
Sun 1Nov69, good1.0 m19 kn25kn20°C
Mon 2Nov78, good0.6 m3 kn7kn20°C
Tue 3Nov78, good0.5 m3 kn5kn21°C
Wed 4Nov51, fair1.0 m16 kn21knboats in21°C
Thu 5Nov64, good0.8 m10 kn12kn21°C
Fri 6Nov56, fair1.1 m14 kn21kn20°C
Sat 7Nov76, good0.9 m7 kn10kn21°C
Sun 8Nov40, poor0.8 m21 kn28knboats in18°C
Mon 9Nov52, fair1.4 m18 kn27kn18°C
Tue 10Nov61, good1.3 m13 kn26kn20°C
Wed 11Nov65, good1.3 m10 kn16kn20°C

Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More

Tide

  • Sun 1 NovHigh 01:14 +0.3 mLow 07:03 −0.6 mHigh 13:47 +0.7 mLow 20:32 −0.6 m
  • Mon 2 NovHigh 02:33 +0.3 mLow 08:20 −0.5 mHigh 15:00 +0.7 mLow 21:46 −0.6 m
  • Tue 3 NovHigh 03:53 +0.3 mLow 09:43 −0.5 mHigh 16:11 +0.7 mLow 22:51 −0.7 m

Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.

Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.

Best time to go

best in Dec

Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).

  1. Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
  2. Feb6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
  3. Mar6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
  4. Apr6of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
  5. May5of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
  6. Jun6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
  7. Jul5of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
  8. Aug6of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
  9. Sep6of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
  10. Oct6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
  11. Nov6of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
  12. Dec7of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec

Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.

Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.

Map

the site and its town

Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.

The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.

One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

More diving near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About North Bay Dropoff

A wall dive. It goes down to 25 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces NE: swell from the NE reaches it, and wind from the SW blows out to sea. 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 2.8 km away. The sea is about 19°C in August, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 24°C in January, its warmest (5 mm wetsuit). For Advanced divers the best month is usually December, with about 7 good days in 7; in May and July, about 5. From the weather of past years. The town to stay in is Lord Howe Island. Within 5 km we also list 5 surf spots and 4 dive sites.

  • What it is Wall.
  • How deep Down to 25 m.
  • Getting in From a boat.
  • Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
  • Dive centres 1 dive centre or shop within 10 km, the nearest 2.8 km away.

Water about 21°C: 5 mm wetsuit. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.

Visibility about 20 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Jan (over 30 m).

The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).

Where to stay: Lord Howe Island

Closest

Lord Howe Island

4 min by car · 18 places to stay

about US$134/nightcountry average

See 18 places to stay in Lord Howe Island · Booking.com

About Lord Howe Island its beds, food and every spot near it

About US$134 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.

In the water

Dive centres nearby

  • Dive Lord Howe 2.8 km

The nearest named dive centres and shops within 25 km, in a straight line; training agencies where the map states them. Listings, not a recommendation. Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits

What you might see

Too few open records near this site to list its animals. Ask a dive centre what you are likely to see.

This week: visibility about 25 m, clearer than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.

The current and the life no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.