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FAQ

How accurate are the forecasts? ▼

C4ST uses data from the Open-Meteo Marine API and weather forecasts, which are based on global weather models. Accuracy decreases further out (7+ days). For Australian waters, we provide hyper-local forecasts tuned to each beach's unique geography and tidal patterns.

Tide predictions use sinusoidal approximation based on the 12.42-hour and 6.21-hour lunar cycles, which is accurate for planning but not official tide tables.

Do you offer offline forecasts? ▼

When you're offline or the API is unavailable, C4ST shows synthetic fallback data generated from each beach's latitude/longitude. This is marked clearly and shouldn't be relied on for planning. Always fetch fresh data when possible.

How do custom notifications work? ▼

Set your ideal conditions for a beach: swell height range, minimum period, maximum wind speed, wind direction, tide level, and time of day. C4ST scans the 7-day forecast and notifies you when those conditions line up.

You can notify up to 7 days in advance, and optionally also on the day of. The app checks forecasts when you open it and periodically in the background.

Which beaches are included? ▼

C4ST covers 73 beaches across all 6 Australian states: NSW, QLD, VIC, SA, WA, and TAS. Browse by state or search by name/region. If your favourite beach isn't listed, reach out and we'll consider adding it.

What are shark activity alerts? ▼

C4ST tracks recent shark sightings reported near Australian beaches and sends notifications if a sighting is within ~50km of your favourite spots. Sightings are sourced from public reports and surf communities. Stay alert, but remember sharks are rare — use common sense alongside the app.

Can I change units (feet, knots, etc.)? ▼

Yes. Go to Settings and toggle between metric/imperial (metres/feet), 12h/24h time format, and km/h vs knots. Your preference is saved and applied everywhere in the app, including custom notifications.

What data sources do you use? ▼

C4ST fetches weather and marine forecasts from the Open-Meteo APIs (free, open-source). Tides are calculated using harmonic approximation. Water temperatures are from Open-Meteo marine data. We do not scrape or repackage proprietary data.

Is there a web version? ▼

C4ST is iOS-only right now. We're exploring Android and web versions in the future, but there's no timeline yet. Check back for updates.

Does C4ST collect my location data? ▼

Only if you enable "Nearby Spots" in Settings, which uses your device's geolocation to rank nearby beaches. We never send location data to external servers — it's used locally to calculate distance to beaches.

Didn't find an answer?

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