Bay Head Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, listen up. It’s a grim outlook for Bay Head right now, and I’m not gonna dance around it. For the next week and a half, we’ve got nothing but ankle-biters and choppy slop. Water’s warm though, 73°F, which is about 4°F warmer than normal, so if you just want to float around, it’s not a total loss.

Monday starts off with a tiny 0.4m (about 1ft) of east-southeast swell at 9 seconds, but that north-northwest cross-offshore wind keeps it clean, just super weak. The energy’s a laughable 41. Monday afternoon drops even more to 27. Not worth the wetsuit.

Tuesday sees a bit more swell, up to 0.9m (about 3ft), but the period tanks to 6 seconds, and the east-northeast cross-onshore chops it all up. Afternoon’s a light onshore, messy, and barely 0.8m. This is junk.

Wednesday morning is glassy, with a south wind at 5 km/h and a tiny 0.3m of east swell. It’s smooth, but you’d be surfing ripples. Afternoon gets a cross-shore breeze and drops to 0.4m.

Thursday and Friday are rinse and repeat—small, weak, and inconsistent. Friday morning has a long-period 12-second swell, but only 0.2m of it. That’s nothing. Energy is in the 20s and 30s, just pathetic.

Saturday has 0.4m to 0.5m, but winds are cross-onshore or cross-shore, so it’s lumpy and bumpy. Sunday morning is clean with a west-southwest offshore breeze and 0.5m from the south at 11 seconds, but energy is only 38. Clean, but tiny.

Now, here’s the deal. The 21st of September, we finally see some real swell—2.0m (about 7ft) from the east at 7 seconds. Energy jumps to 384 in the morning, 419 in the afternoon. That’s moderate wave energy, but the wind is straight onshore from the east at 20 km/h. It’s a washing machine. Tuesday the 22nd has similar size, 1.8m to 2.0m, but a fresh onshore breeze at 30-35 km/h. That’s lumpy, closed-out, and just messy. Not a surf day.

Then comes Wednesday the 23rd, morning. Swell drops to 1.3m (about 4ft) from the southeast at 7 seconds, but look at that—it’s glassy, with a light west-southwest wind at 5 km/h. Energy is 176, which is moderate. This is the first time we get a surfable wave. It’s clean, it’s got a bit of push, and this is your best bet for the whole 16 days. I’m calling it the standout. It’s not huge, but it’s rideable. Afternoon goes downhill again.

After that, we’re back to tiny, weak, and choppy until the end of the forecast. The 25th has a gentle offshore wind in the morning with a pathetic 4-second period. The 27th has a fresh cross-shore breeze and bumpy 0.4m to 0.6m. The last few days are more of the same.

So, if you want to get wet, you’ve got one window: the morning of Wednesday, September 23rd. Glassy, 1.3m, a little bit of energy. Go then, or don’t bother. It’s a rough stretch, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Stay salty.

Rusty

Read more