Manasquan Inlet Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s break down Manasquan Inlet over the next couple weeks. It’s gonna be a slow stretch, but there’s one morning that’s worth setting the alarm for.

We start off flat and ugly. Sunday the 2nd and Monday morning the 3rd are a bust – weak, sloppy, and choppy. Sunday has S winds at 15 mph blowing cross and cross-on, with a weak 3ft SSE swell and barely any energy (26-37 in that combined number). Not worth your time.

But then Monday morning, August 3rd, is the real deal. We get a solid 6ft S swell – right out of the optimum SSE direction – with an 8-second period, pumping out 591 combined swell energy. That’s moderate-strong energy, proper groundswell. And the wind? Offshore from the WSW at a gentle 9 mph. That means glassy, clean waves. This is a beach/jetty setup, very consistent here, and it’s advanced-level size. For the experienced crew, this is the session. Water temp is about normal for August, nothing unusual.

By Monday afternoon, it’s already dropping to 4ft, wind switching cross-offshore. Surfable, but nothing special. Through Tuesday and Wednesday the swell hangs around 3-4ft, but the wind is mostly cross-off or onshore, and the energy numbers drop hard – 86 down to 51. Most of those days are just meh.

Thursday the 6th through the weekend is small and weak. Swell is 2-4ft, period dropping to 5-6 seconds, combined energy barely hitting 175 at its best. There’s some clean windows, but the waves are poor. Thursday morning has clear skies and SSW cross-off wind, but it’s still just 4ft of weak, short-period chop.

One small bright spot is Saturday morning, August 8th – glassy with W wind at 3 mph, but the swell is only 2ft with a 6-second period. That’s longboard or foiling territory, not a standout.

From Sunday the 9th all the way through the 17th, it’s tiny. Wave heights are 1-3ft, periods short (4-8 seconds), and combined energy stays in the teens or 20s. Wind is often light and cross-off, sometimes glassy, but there’s just no power. The only exception is Monday afternoon the 10th, where WNW offshore wind gives clean 3ft S swell – but it’s weak (68 energy) and short period. Marginal.

After that, it’s a long stretch of flat days. From the 11th on, it’s mostly 1ft to 2ft slop. Friday the 14th has glassy conditions again, but only 2ft swell. By the 15th and 16th, the wind swings onshore and it’s a complete mess.

Bottom line: Monday morning, August 3rd is the only real standout. Everything else is small, weak, or blown out. The rest of the 16-day window is a hole. If you’ve got a kite, some of those days with decent wind and small waves might be fun – but for a paddle surfer, it’s a waiting game until that Monday morning window.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on the forecasts – it tends not to stay dead forever around here.

Rusty.

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