Bay Head Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, folks. Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s coming up for Bay Head over the next couple of weeks.

First off, I gotta be straight with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty grim. The water temp is sitting at about 73°, which is a bit warmer than usual for this time of year, but that’s where the good news ends. For the first week, from July 13th right through to the 22nd, we’re looking at tiny, weak waves. The combined swell energy is barely registering, mostly in the low double digits (like 25 to 66), and the swell heights are hanging around 1 ft to 3 ft. For a few days, like the 16th and 17th, we’ll get some clean offshore or cross-off winds from the west and northwest, which would make any wave look pretty, but there just isn’t enough swell to push you down the line. You’d be better off taking a longboard out for a paddle, but honestly, even that’s a stretch.

There’s a brief pulse of energy around the 20th of July, where the swell picks up to 6 ft coming from the ENE, and the combined energy jumps to 310 – that’s moderate wave energy. But the wind is straight onshore from the east, turning cross-onshore later, so it’s going to be a messy, choppy, blown-out mess. Not one for the paddle crew; that setup, with a beach/jetty break and onshore wind, looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

The pattern stays pretty flat and *fairly consistent* in its poor quality until the 26th of July. On Sunday the 26th, we see another small bump: 5 ft swell from the south, with a combined energy of 346. That’s got some weight to it, but once again, the wind is coming from the NNE and then ESE, putting it cross-on. It’s gonna be bumpy. The break is exposed to the swell, which is good, but the direction is a bit off for the optimum SE direction, and the winds are just not cooperating.

The only real standout, if you can even call it that, is the afternoon of Saturday the 19th of July. The swell is a modest 3 ft from the SSE, but the wind goes light and cross-off from the WNW, and the combined energy is 57. The notes say "surfable waves but very ordinary conditions." It’s the only time in the whole forecast where the score is even a 1 out of 10. It’s a tiny, clean window, but it’s something. Bay Head is a beginner-friendly beach/jetty, so if you’re just learning to pop up on a foamie, that might be the moment to go. Keep in mind crowds are *sometimes* an issue there, so you might have company.

Honestly, for the rest of the 16 days, it’s a long stretch of "poor surf conditions" – weak, short-period swells, mixed with onshore or cross winds. No big groundswells, no clean offshores that line up with real size. It’s a pretty blank run. But it tends not to stay poor for long around here, so keep an eye on the forecasts.

Stay dry, lads.
Rusty.

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