Staying Home Sucks, home
Bar Beach NSW 2300, Australia - panoramio
Bar Beach. Photo: Andrew Harvey, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Bar Beach

Surf spot · Australia

Is it worth the trip?

30Poor out of 100 for your dates

Stay home

Best on Fri 6: 5 ft swell at 6 s

Each day of your trip, out of 100

Mon 2 · 31 out of 100

Swell
3 ft7 smushy
Energy
58kJ
Wind
ESE 4 kn
Temp
23°C

Tue 3 · 25 out of 100

Swell
3 ft4 smushy
Energy
41kJ
Wind
ENE 7 kn
Temp
24°C

Wed 4 · 20 out of 100

Swell
2 ft10 smushy
Energy
43kJ
Wind
SE 6 kn
Temp
22°C

Thu 5 · 28 out of 100

Swell
2 ft5 smushy
Energy
25kJ
Wind
W 7 kn
Temp
21°C

Fri 6 · 48 out of 100

Swell
5 ft6 smushy
Energy
213kJ
Wind
SSW 3 kn
Temp
21°C

Sat 7 · 24 out of 100

Swell
2 ft7 smushy
Energy
49kJ
Wind
NW 5 kn
Temp
30°C

Sun 8 · 12 out of 100

Swell
6 ft7 smushy
Energy
302kJ
Wind
SSW 13 kn
Temp
17°C

Tap a day for waves, wind and the temperature. Full forecast

Forecast: next 10 days

Full forecast
  1. Sun 133, too small
  2. Mon 231, too small
  3. Tue 325, poor
  4. Wed 420, too small
  5. Thu 528, too small
  6. Fri 648, fair
  7. Sat 724, too small
  8. Sun 812, poor
  9. Mon 920, poor
  10. Tue 1057, fair

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 21 °C2 mm shorty

Full forecast

every day, every number

The score doesn't know rips, currents, rocks or your skill.

Bar Beach does not suit beginners. This is the forecast for intermediates, so you can see what it does.

Forecast and score for intermediate surfers at Bar Beach, each day
DayScorefor Inter­mediateSwellEnergyWindTemp
Sun 1Nov33, too small2 ft9 ssoft3 ft at break (est.)81kJwind from the west, 5 knots, offshore26°C
Mon 2Nov31, too small3 ft7 smushy3 ft at break (est.)58kJwind from the east-south-east, 4 knots23°C
Tue 3Nov25, poor3 ft4 smushy3 ft at break (est.)41kJwind from the east-north-east, 7 knots24°C
Wed 4Nov20, too small2 ft10 smushy3 ft at break (est.)43kJwind from the south-east, 6 knots22°C
Thu 5Nov28, too small2 ft5 smushy3 ft at break (est.)25kJwind from the west, 7 knots, offshore21°C
Fri 6Nov48, fair5 ft6 smushy6 ft at break (est.)213kJwind from the south-south-west, 3 knots21°C
Sat 7Nov24, too small2 ft7 smushy3 ft at break (est.)49kJwind from the north-west, 5 knots, offshore30°C
Sun 8Nov12, poor6 ft7 smushy6 ft at break (est.)302kJwind from the south-south-west, 13 knots17°C
Mon 9Nov20, poor5 ft6 smushy6 ft at break (est.)214kJwind from the east-south-east, 7 knots19°C
Tue 10Nov57, fair3 ft7 smushy4 ft at break (est.)94kJwind from the east, 3 knots23°C
Wed 11Nov78, good5 ft8 ssoft6 ft at break (est.)248kJwind from the north-north-west, 4 knots, offshore23°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.

Map

the spot, its town, photos

Each place wears its best day on these dates, a surf spot for beginners: 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.

Photos of Bar Beach

Merewether - panoramio (4)
Photo: Maurice van Creij, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
A Beach in Newcastle, NSW in Australia
Photo: Gharouni, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
One of the Beautiful Beaches of Newcastle, NSW in Australia
Photo: Gharouni, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

More surf near here

5 places

About

the place in full, sources, credits

About Bar Beach

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 650 m out (1 in 63). On a typical 5 ft, 11 s swell the waves here would spill softly. The sea is about 19°C in July, its coldest month (2 mm shorty), and 24°C in February, its warmest (no wetsuit). The town to stay in is Newcastle, 1.9 km away (about 5 min by car). Within 5 km we also list 25 surf spots and 2 wind sports spots.

Water about 21°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 
Rough cost per person for this trip
WhatHow we worked it outEach
Flightsreturn MDW to SYD, estimated from distance and season, changing at LAX, full-service airlines, with a hold bagabout US$925–US$1,920
Hire car6 days, sharedabout US$147–US$241
Stay6 nights, a mid-range double, sharedabout US$355–US$596
Food7 days eating outabout US$322–US$596
Board and wetsuit5 days, or about US$114 to fly your ownabout US$141–US$234
Totalabout 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

Closest

Newcastle

3 min by car · 64 places to stay

about US$134/nightcountry average

See 64 places to stay in Newcastle · Booking.com

About Newcastle 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.

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

An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.

Saved: this link opens the same trip

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The link holds the trip itself: nothing about you is kept. Check the forecast again before you book.