Block Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's take a look at what's coming up for the Block Island area.

First off, I gotta be straight with you – the next week and a half is looking pretty grim. The waves are just not cooperating. We’ve got a long stretch of small, weak, and messy conditions. The best description I can give you is "poor surf conditions" from this Sunday right through to the middle of the following week. The swell is tiny, mostly under 3ft, and the wind is all over the place, often cross-shore or cross-onshore, so it's going to be lumpy and choppy. The combined swell energy is laughable, barely cracking 100 (26 to 94) for most of that period. You’ll be doing more sitting than paddling.

There is a little moment of hope. On the morning of Monday the 15th of September, we get a little glassy window with some light wind from the SSW, and a tiny 3ft swell from the ENE. It’s still small, and the energy is weak (72), but with the glassy conditions, it might be the closest thing to a clean, cruisy session for a couple of weeks. Don't expect much.

Then things get weird. The real action, if you can call it that, is way out in the second week. On Thursday the 18th of September, the swell machine finally wakes up. We’re looking at some serious size rolling in from the east, with swell heights jumping to 8ft by Thursday morning, and then solid 10ft to 12ft by Friday the 19th. The combined swell energy is massive, hitting 532 on Thursday morning and then a whopping 1695 on Friday morning. This is a lot of water moving around.

But here’s the catch. Block Island is a point break, and it's rarely breaking. This kind of long-period, east-southeast groundswell might be too straight for it to set up properly, especially with the wind. The forecast for those days shows strong cross-shore and cross-onshore winds, which will chop it up into a mess. The guidance calls it "marginal" at best, and honestly, for a point break, this looks more like a wild, washing-machine session than a lined-up wave. These waves are big enough for experts only, over 8ft, but the quality is going to be poor. The Thursday morning (18th of September) might be the best of a bad bunch with the wind a little lighter, but it's still a gamble.

Overall, for paddle surfing, there's nothing to get excited about until the second week, and even then, it's a big, windy, and likely frustrating mess. If you're into kite surfing, the 18th and 19th of September with that strong east wind and big swell could be your ticket, but for a standard surfer, your best bet is to wait for the next forecast.

Rusty.

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