I looked at the Sunshine Coast forecast yesterday and saw winds ~ 10 knots and waves ~3-5 foot so I thought it would be a good day for a beginner like myself to practice a bit of paddling and try to catch some white water.

So I headed out to Kawana Waters (I didn't specifically pick this spot for surfing, the family had plans too) only to find it was nothing like I had expected. One wave breaking after the other and a strong current made it very hard for me to do any [serious] practice.

Now aside from the current (which you don't find in a forecast report) what could I have looked at to predict what I found? Or how do ideal beginner-friendly conditions look like in a forecast report?

Thanks

This a gee up right ?

Let's look at Surfline - You have the options of having the forecast/current readings set to 'traditional' or 'face height'.
'Face' height is pretty much 2x 'traditional'. Most forecast sites tend to default to 'traditional'. And even then, 'face height' doesn't always appear to include the trough of the wave.
A recent surfline forecast called for "3-4ft; Head high to 3 ft overhead"

Generally, as the swells get bigger, so will the current.

Wind direction is arguably more important that speed.

1-2 ft great for beginners, generally speaking.

if you haven't already, go grab a couple of surf lessons. Listen and ask questions. And listen to the answers.

Probably a gee up.

The raw data that you get from surf forecasts needs to be interpreted for the beach that you surf.
I can look at a forecast and know what the conditions are going to be at my local. There's 180 ? on the coast line and the swell comes from one of those directions.
Every day you do a surf check look at the forecast and see how that relates to the local spot. If it's crap remember those forecasts.

Looks like your outa luck for this forecast period...unless you like salt water enemas?
Try heading down to Happy valley at Caloundra if winds are from the North.
S-SE winds then its Johnson's cove at Noosa. Or Mooloolaba for some closeouts that could give you 2 surfboards even though you paddled out with 1.
Everywhere else is exposed to the swell.
Good luck getting a car park at any of the spots during the holidays.