Montauk Point - Turtles Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it. This is Rusty, and I’ve been staring at the charts for Montauk Point – Turtles, and honestly, it’s a bit of a tough stretch ahead. We’ve got a solid 16-day window, but the first week or so is looking pretty flat and uninspiring. The swell is just not showing up with any real muscle, and when it does, the wind is usually in the wrong spot.

The good news? We do have one window that’s worth getting a little excited about, but it’s a patient man’s game. The entire first week is a write-off for real waves. From Sunday the 30th of August right through to Saturday the 5th of September, we’re looking at tiny, weak surf. The combined energy is consistently in the low two-digit range, like 30 (weak energy) for most of that time. The swell is tiny, usually around 1 ft to 2 ft, and the direction is all over the place. There’s a morning on Monday the 31st of August with glassy conditions, but it’s on a 1 ft swell – you’d be floating more than surfing.

We finally get some size on Wednesday the 2nd of September. The swell jumps to 5 ft from the east, but the wind is howling from the east-southeast at 19 mph. That’s a fresh, lumpy cross-onshore, and the combined energy hits 288 (moderate), but it’s just too messy. The afternoon is similar with 6 ft, but that east wind is even stronger at 22 mph. This setup looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing, honestly.

We have a cleaner interlude on Thursday the 3rd of September with a 3 ft south-east swell and some cross-offshore wind from the west-southwest in the afternoon. The combined energy is 135 (moderate). It’s rideable, but it’s not the standout.

The real standout, and the only one I’d circle on your calendar, is Sunday the 13th of September. The afternoon session is the pick. We’ve got a 7 ft south-southwest swell rolling in, with a combined energy of 328 (strong). Crucially, the wind is a clean cross-offshore from the west-southwest at 12 mph. That’s a recipe for some really clean, lined-up waves at Turtles. It’s a reef break, so the long-period energy (though the period is a short 6 seconds on this one) will work well. However, at 7 ft, this is getting into the expert-only zone, especially on a reef with a short period that might pitch a bit steep. Crowds are likely at a spot like this when it turns on, but you’ll be trading some company for some of the best waves of the month. The water temperature anomaly is not unusually different, so it’ll feel about average for this time of year.

The Monday the 14th of September morning washes out with fresh cross-shore winds and a messy 4 ft swell. Overall, for the next 16 days, there is one true standout: the afternoon of September 13th. The rest is a waiting game with mostly small, weak, or wind-affected surf.

Rusty.

Read more