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Crescent Head surf guide

Longboard paradise: a perfect right-hand point that peels along a grassy headland.

Location
New South Wales, Australia (-31.1880, 152.9790)
Best season
Mar – Aug: March, April, May, June, July, August
Water temperature
18–24°C (boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest))
Waves
Point break
Suits
Beginner, Intermediate surfers

Surf spots in Crescent Head

What's on in Crescent Head

A small, relaxed village: evenings are sunset at the point and a drink at the tavern, which has occasional live music. No fixed weekly nights or confirmed upcoming events could be found; the community market's current dates are unclear, so check locally.

Updated 2026-11-03.

Where to stay in Crescent Head

34 places to stay within 10 km: 10 holiday rental, 8 camp site, 5 hotel, 4 chalet, 3 motel, 1 villa, 1 resort, 1 surf camp, 1 hostel. Compare them by distance to the nearest surf spot on the interactive map.

Surf camps: Rancho Relaxo.

Hostels: MojoSurf Crescent Head.

Cafés, food and surf shops

9 cafés and bakeries, 6 restaurants and bars, 1 surf schools and 2 surf shops nearby. Surf schools: Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Club.

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to surf in Crescent Head?

The best surf season in Crescent Head is Mar – Aug (March, April, May, June, July, August). The sea ranges from 18°C to 24°C over the year.

Which months have the most good surf days in Crescent Head?

Measured over the last three years (2023-11-01 to 2026-10-31), the waves at Crescent Head's best spot were good or better most often in May (37% of days, 11% great), April (31% of days, 8% great) and August (30% of days, 6% great), and least often in October (5%). From each day's swell and wind (Open-Meteo), rated like Swell Cabin's forecast.

Do I need a wetsuit in Crescent Head?

Water temperature in Crescent Head is 18–24°C: boardshorts (warmest) to 3/2 mm (coldest).

Is Crescent Head good for beginner surfers?

Yes. Crescent Head suits beginner and intermediate surfers; spots that work for beginners or all levels include Crescent Head.

What are the surf spots in Crescent Head?

Crescent Head has 1 surf spots on Swell Cabin: Crescent Head (Point break, right-hander, all levels, faces NE (offshore wind from the SW), best at all tides).

Where should surfers stay in Crescent Head?

Swell Cabin lists 34 places to stay within 10 km of Crescent Head, including 1 surf camps such as Rancho Relaxo, 1 hostels, 11 rentals and villas. Each one shows its distance to the nearest surf spot.

What is the nightlife like in Crescent Head?

A small, relaxed village: evenings are sunset at the point and a drink at the tavern, which has occasional live music. No fixed weekly nights or confirmed upcoming events could be found; the community market's current dates are unclear, so check locally.

What is the surf forecast for Crescent Head this week?

Swell Cabin shows a live 7-day surf forecast for Crescent Head and each of its 1 surf spots on https://swellcabin.com/town/crescent-head: each spot rated hour by hour (Flat, Poor, Fair, Good, Great or Epic) from the way its coast faces, the swell, its period, the wind and the tide, with the best time each day and why, the size in surfers' words (e.g. "chest to head high, clean"), tides, and how sure the forecast is (three wave models compared). It is checked live against the nearest buoy and airport wind reports where there are any, and refreshed every few hours (waves from Open-Meteo, wind from MET Norway).

When is the best tide to surf in Crescent Head?

It depends on the spot: shallow reefs usually want mid to high tide, most beach breaks work best around mid tide. Swell Cabin's forecast for Crescent Head weighs each spot's tide hour by hour and shows the best window each day with the high and low tide times, predicted from the Port Macquarie tide gauge (27 km away).

Is the Crescent Head surf forecast checked against measurements?

Yes. The open water off Crescent Head is checked against the satellite altimeters (Copernicus Marine's near-real-time wave heights): 41 satellite passes within 100 km since 2026-09-23, typically 70 km out, put the forecast wave height within 20% of the measurement 93% of the time. Of the three wave models compared, Météo-France has been the closest to the satellites here. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information (https://doi.org/10.48670/moi-00179). Last checked 2026-11-02.

How reliable is Swell Cabin's information about Crescent Head?

Trust in this page's data is medium (75/100): the town has not been verified against sources in the last 12 months; 1 of 1 spots fully verified, 1 with a researched tide; season and water temperature checked against measured data; no open audit warnings. How we check: https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-accuracy.md Last checked against sources on 2026-11-05. Every value comes from measured data (Open-Meteo, buoys), open databases (OpenStreetMap, Wikidata) or a published page we opened, never from visitor reports; a daily audit compares them and a weekly evaluation measures the error rate (https://github.com/danielgalam/swellcabin/blob/main/docs/data-quality.md).

Is there a live surf cam in Crescent Head?

Swell Cabin hasn't found a live surf cam it could check in Crescent Head yet (it only lists cams it has opened); the surf forecast on its page shows the waves this week.

Where can I take surf lessons in Crescent Head?

Surf schools in and around Crescent Head include Kempsey-Crescent Head Surf Club.

Nearby surf towns

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