Jennette's Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, let's break this down. We've got a couple of weeks of mostly lackluster surf ahead, so patience is key. Water's sitting at about 80°, which is a touch warmer than normal for the season, so that's a nice little bonus.

Right now, and for the next few days, it's all pretty weak and chopped up. We're looking at ankle to waist-high slop, maybe 3ft, with a short, weak period and hardly any energy – energy readings are down in the 70s and 80s. Winds are mostly cross-onshore, making things messy. Thursday does have a glassy morning, but the swell is tiny, dropping to around 2ft. Clean, but barely breaking. Not worth the effort unless you're just having a splash.

The weekend shows a bit more size – Saturday pushes to around 4ft – but the period is a shocker, only 4-6 seconds, and the wind is up at 15-16 mph onshore. It's going to be lumpy, messy closeouts. Energy climbs into the 100s, but it's all short-period chop. Sunday's similar, a touch bigger, but still onshore and all over the shop.

Monday the 21st is your best bet for a clean one. Early morning has a nice cross-offshore breeze, swell holds at around 3ft, and the period stretches to 8 seconds. It's small, but it's the cleanest surf of the whole run. Energy is weak, down in the 70s, but if you're keen, that's your window. The window closes fast though – the afternoon gets chopped up again.

Tuesday and Wednesday stay small, mostly 3ft, with a couple of glassy moments on Wednesday morning (dead calm). But still, not enough push or power to get excited about. Just ordinary.

Then things ramp up, but not in a good way. From the 29th, the swell starts to build. Tuesday sees 5ft, but it's still short-period and onshore. Then Wednesday the 30th is the big one. The swell jumps to a solid 11-12ft with a 9-10 second period, and the energy goes nuts – we're talking readings in the 2000s. That's strong, powerful stuff. But at Jennette's Pier, this is way too much. It's a beach/jetty setup, and 12ft of cross-onshore swell is going to be a violent mess. It's big, it's powerful, and it's beyond what this break can handle. Only for the most experienced, and even then, it's going to be a battle.

After that, Thursday the 1st of October is still big – 8ft – but the period drops and the wind picks up to 22 mph onshore. That's just blown-out chaos. This is where you'd want to think about kitesurfing. That much swell and wind over a beach/reef setup is not for paddle surfing.

So, the pick of the fortnight is that Monday morning the 21st – clean, cross-off, but small. If you want the big stuff, Wednesday the 30th has the size and power, but it's too big and too messy for this break. It's a spectator day. The rest is either too small, too choppy, or too blown out.

Long-range stuff, like that big swell, is promising in size but less certain in quality. Keep an eye on it, but don't plan your life around it.

Stay salty.

Rusty

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