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Cowrie hole
Surf spot · Australia
Is it worth the trip?
15Poor out of 100 for your dates
Best on Fri 6: 5 ft swell at 6 s
Mon 2 · 12 out of 100
- Swell
- 2 ft7 smushy
- Energy
- 53kJ
- Wind
- ESE 4 kn
- Temp
- 23°C
Tue 3 · 6 out of 100
- Swell
- 1 ft8 ssoft
- Energy
- 21kJ
- Wind
- NE 6 kn
- Temp
- 24°C
Wed 4 · 8 out of 100
- Swell
- 2 ft10 smushy
- Energy
- 41kJ
- Wind
- SE 6 kn
- Temp
- 22°C
Thu 5 · 12 out of 100
- Swell
- 2 ft5 smushy
- Energy
- 22kJ
- Wind
- W 7 kn
- Temp
- 21°C
Fri 6 · 30 out of 100
- Swell
- 5 ft6 smushy
- Energy
- 188kJ
- Wind
- SSW 3 kn
- Temp
- 21°C
Sat 7 · 10 out of 100
- Swell
- 2 ft7 smushy
- Energy
- 40kJ
- Wind
- NW 5 kn
- Temp
- 30°C
Sun 8 · 14 out of 100
- Swell
- 6 ft7 smushy
- Energy
- 337kJ
- Wind
- SSW 12 kn
- Temp
- 17°C
Tap a day for waves, wind and the temperature. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Sun 113, too small
- Mon 212, too small
- Tue 36, too small
- Wed 48, too small
- Thu 512, too small
- Fri 630, too small
- Sat 710, too small
- Sun 814, too small
- Mon 936, too small
- Tue 1022, too small
The spot in five facts
- Faces SEtakes swell from the SE
- Offshore: NWwind from the land
- Intermediate +who it suits
- Works 2–9 ftof swell
- Water 20 °C2 mm shorty
Full forecast
every day, every number
| Day | Score for experts | Swell | Energy | Wind | Temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1Nov | 13, too small | 2 ft10 ssoft4 ft at break (est.) | 89kJ | offshorewind from the west, 5 knots, offshore | 26°C |
| Mon 2Nov | 12, too small | 2 ft7 smushy3 ft at break (est.) | 53kJ | wind from the east-south-east, 4 knots | 23°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 6, too small | 1 ft8 ssoft2 ft at break (est.) | 21kJ | wind from the north-east, 6 knots | 24°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 8, too small | 2 ft10 smushy3 ft at break (est.) | 41kJ | wind from the south-east, 6 knots | 22°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 12, too small | 2 ft5 smushy3 ft at break (est.) | 22kJ | offshorewind from the west, 7 knots, offshore | 21°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 30, too small | 5 ft6 smushy6 ft at break (est.) | 188kJ | wind from the south-south-west, 3 knots | 21°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 10, too small | 2 ft7 smushy3 ft at break (est.) | 40kJ | offshorewind from the north-west, 5 knots, offshore | 30°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 14, too small | 6 ft7 smushy6 ft at break (est.) | 337kJ | wind from the south-south-west, 12 knots | 17°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 36, too small | 6 ft7 smushy6 ft at break (est.) | 261kJ | wind from the south-west, 8 knots | 19°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 22, too small | 3 ft7 smushy4 ft at break (est.) | 97kJ | wind from the east-north-east, 3 knots | 23°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 45, fair | 4 ft8 ssoft6 ft at break (est.) | 227kJ | offshorewind from the north-north-west, 4 knots, offshore | 23°C |
Energy is the swell's power, in kJ per metre of wave. Wind is in knots, the arrow where it blows to; green is offshore. More
Tide
- Sun 1 NovHigh 01:48 +0.3 mLow 07:08 −0.4 mHigh 13:52 +0.8 mLow 20:54 −0.6 m
- Mon 2 NovHigh 03:04 +0.3 mLow 08:27 −0.3 mHigh 15:02 +0.7 mLow 22:02 −0.6 m
- Tue 3 NovHigh 04:16 +0.3 mLow 09:50 −0.3 mHigh 16:12 +0.7 mLow 23:01 −0.6 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. 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
No month stands out
Good days in a typical week, each month, for intermediate surfers, from 2016 on (history scored the same way).
- Jan0of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
- Feb0of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
- Mar1of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
- Apr2of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
- May2of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
- Jun2of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
- Jul2of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
- Aug2of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
- Sep2of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
- Oct1of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
- Nov1of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
- Dec0of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec
Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.
Typical, not a forecast.
Map
the spot and its town
Cowrie hole on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates, a surf spot for experts: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
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One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
More surf near here
5 places
- Storm - bar pipe 0.4 km away
- Fuzzies 0.8 km away
- Susan gilmore 0.8 km away
- Anti-Hole 0.9 km away
- Fripples - Happy gilmour 0.9 km away
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About Cowrie hole
Facing, offshore wind, exposure, level and swell range are estimated.
The spot faces SE (133°), so it takes swell from the SE. The wind blows offshore from the NW (313°). It is exposed to the open swell. It suits intermediate surfers and up. It works in 2–9 ft of swell. The sea floor shelves gently: 10 m deep about 700 m out (1 in 68). On a typical 5 ft, 11 s swell the waves here would spill softly. The sea is about 18°C in August, its coldest month (2 mm shorty), and 24°C in March, its warmest (no wetsuit). The town to stay in is Newcastle, 0.9 km away (about 5 min by car). Within 5 km we also list 25 surf spots and 2 wind sports spots.
Water about 20°C: 2 mm shorty. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.
The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).
Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,890–US$3,580 each
about US$1,890–US$3,580 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food, board and wetsuit.
Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
How we worked it out
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return MDW to SYD, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$925–US$1,920 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$147–US$241 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$355–US$596 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$322–US$596 |
| Board and wetsuit | 5 days, or about US$114 to fly your own | about US$141–US$234 |
| Total | about US$1,890–US$3,580 |
For 2 people sharing a room. Lessons, lift-pass deals and insurance are extra. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.
Where to stay: 3 towns
2 min by car · 64 places to stay
about US$134/nightcountry average
About Newcastle its beds, food and every spot near it
- Beds in Belmont on Booking.com
26 min by car · 7 places to stay
- Beds in Murrays Beach on Booking.com
44 min by car · 5 places to stay
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.
Getting there: about 29h 25m
About 29h 25m door to door from Chicago
Fly MDW → SYD, changing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), then 2h 30m by road
Flights MDW → SYD on your dates · Skyscanner
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.