Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be real – this is a tough stretch for Otter Rock. For the first week, the stars are just not aligned. We’ve got a nasty, persistent cross and cross-onshore breeze from the NNW that’s keeping the surface all chopped up, and the wave heights are either tiny or coming from directions that don’t match the spot’s optimum W swell. The combined energy of all swells directed here is weak to moderate (values between 102 and 401), but it’s all wasted by the messy conditions. It’s a real shame, because the water temp is about average for the time of year, but you wouldn’t want to be out there in this bump.

Things start to look a little more interesting around the 14th of August. The wind finally swings around to the west, and we get a couple of days of onshore or light cross-onshore flow. The swell is still small, but the surface will be much cleaner. The real shift happens on the 18th of August, Tuesday. That’s when we get our one true standout. We’ve got a solid pulse of WNW groundswell rolling in, with a 5ft to 6ft swell and a long period of 11 to 13 seconds. The combined energy jumps into the strong range (834 to 1193), so there’s some real grunt behind it. The wind is light cross-onshore from the WNW and NNW, which isn’t ideal, but it’s light enough that the waves will be well-shaped. This is going to be a bigger, more powerful session, and the long period means it’ll be a bit more selective at this point break setup. Only surfers who know what they’re doing should be on it. The 19th of August also holds similar size and energy, with a bit of a cleaner look from the west-southwest wind. After that, the swell drops off quickly and the NNW winds come back to ruin the party.

So, the pick of the entire 16-day window is the morning of the 18th of August. The swell is up, the energy is there, and the wind is manageable. It’s the most promising window we’ve got, but it's still a long way out, so keep an eye on the forecasts. Everything else is a write-off or a gamble.

Rusty.

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