Gilgo Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let’s talk about what’s cooking for Gilgo over the next couple weeks. Gotta be straight with you—it’s a tough outlook. There’s a long, quiet stretch ahead before we see anything worthwhile.

We start off on Tuesday the 15th, but don’t get your hopes up. We’ve got a tiny 0.3m SE windswell, but the wind is onshore and messy. Water temp is sitting at 23°, which is much warmer than normal for this time of year—about 5°F above average, so it feels a bit like summer’s hanging on. Still, the surf is poor, and that’s the theme for a while.

From Wednesday the 16th through to Saturday the 27th of September, it’s a real desert. Swell stays small, often around 0.2m to 0.4m, with period below 8 seconds. The winds are mainly cross-on or cross-off, and a lot of the time it’s just choppy or messy. There’s a brief uptick on Saturday the 20th with 1.4m SSE swell, but it comes with onshore winds and moderate rain—combined wave energy is 148 (moderate) but the quality is poor, so it’s not worth paddling out.

Even when we get a little more size, like 1.1m on Tuesday the 22nd and 1.4m on Wednesday the 23rd, the wind is cross-on or onshore, and the east swell is short period. The 1.7m on the afternoon of the 23rd is paired with 40 km/h winds from the east—that’s strong cross-on and messy, likely more of a kite-surfing setup than a paddle session. Energy hits 246 (strong), but the conditions are blown out.

The first real glimmer comes on Sunday the 27th. We finally get offshore winds from the NW, with a small 0.7m ESE swell at 8 seconds. The wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary.” It’s not a standout, but after two weeks of nothing, clean small waves feel like a win. Combined energy is 91 (weak). Monday the 28th morning picks up a bit with 0.9m ESE, period 10 seconds, and N winds offshore—energy at 167 (moderate), and the wave state is clean. That’s probably the best you’ll see in this whole window, but it’s still only a 1/10 score.

Honestly, there’s no true standout here. If you’re desperate for a paddle, aim for the morning of Monday the 28th or Sunday the 27th, but keep expectations low. The rest of the first week of October is just small, clean conditions with no real swell.

The blank run is long—more than ten days of poor or no surf. That’s not unheard of for Gilgo, but it’s a tough pill to swallow. Forecasts can change, but for now, I’d say leave the board in the bag.

Rusty.

Read more