Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. We’ve got one spot to look at for the next couple of weeks, Otter Rock, and I’ll be honest with you – it’s a bit of a slow burn. The first week is mostly a write-off, but there is a genuine gem hiding at the very end of the forecast.

The pattern kicks off from Wednesday the 19th of August, but don’t get excited. All you’ll find is a messy 3ft swell from the WNW with a cross-onshore breeze. It’s choppy and poor. That same cross-onshore junk sticks around through Thursday the 20th morning, but the wind does go glassy for a minute with a 3ft WNW swell – that’s a tease of what could be, but the conditions are still marginal thanks to questionable tide. Friday the 21st sees the swell drop right off to 3ft, and the weekend is a right-off with lumpy 4ft to 6ft slop and some fresh cross-shore winds that will have you wrestling chop. Monday the 24th to Thursday the 27th is a dead zone of tiny 1ft to 2ft swells and cross-shore breezes. Honestly, you might as well wax the longboard and wait.

Then around Friday the 28th of August, we start to see a pulse of energy come back, but the wind is still a mess. Saturday the 29th has some decent 5ft NW swell at 7 seconds, but with a fresh cross-shore wind at 19 mph, it’ll be lumpy again. Not worth it. Sunday the 30th is similar.

But hold onto your board shorts. Monday morning, August the 31st is your standout. We are looking at a beautiful 4ft swell from the WNW with a 13-second period – that’s proper groundswell. The combined energy is strong at 824 (strong to very strong wave energy). And the wind? Glassy. Absolutely flat calm. This is clean, lined-up surf with some push behind it. For a point break like Otter Rock, that long-period WNW groundswell will wrap in nicely and offer some real quality. The water temp is about average for the time of year, nothing weird. Just good, clean, working surf.

That window doesn’t last long though; by the afternoon the cross-onshore comes back, and Tuesday the 1st of September is a step down with 5ft–5ft but light cross and cross-on winds bringing ripples. After that, we get rain and fresh winds on the 2nd and 3rd, putting an end to any real hope.

So, for this 16-day run, you have nearly two weeks of junk to sit through, but that one glassy morning on the 31st is a genuine beauty. Mark it on your calendar, get out there early, and score.

Rusty.

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