Noosa Heads is one of Australia's favourite tourist destinations, with large summer and holiday crowds filling the town and its main beach. The town is located at the mouth of the Noosa River and is inline with the 2 km long Noosa Headland, with much of the head now forming a national park. Immediately north of the river is the more extensive Cooloola National Park. Today, Noosa boasts a thriving tourist industry, with major resorts and a wide range of accommodation and facilities. Noosa has long been a popular summer destination, with a surf lifesaving reel placed on the beach in 1915 and the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club founded in 1927. The main beach (1532) runs from the base of the heads to the mouth of the river. The river is now trained with an entrance wall that forms the northern end of the 1.2 km long beach. In addition, to combat beach erosion and maintain some of the sand dumped on the beach, a rock groyne has been built across the middle of the beach and a seawall constructed along the southern half of the beach. The beach faces almost due north, and receives low waves which have to pass around Noosa Heads. They average between 0.5 and 1 m high at the beach, where they usually form a continuous bar that is cut by rips during and following higher waves. Waves are higher and rips more prevalent at, and north of, the groyne.
SLSA provides this information as a guide only. Surf conditions are variable and therefore this information should not be relied upon as a substitute for observation of local conditions and an understanding of your abilities in the surf. SLSA reminds you to always swim between the red and yellow flags and never swim at unpatrolled beaches. SLSA takes all care and responsibility for any translation but it cannot guarantee that all translations will be accurate.