Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Right place, wrong week, I reckon. A real flat spell followed by messy, onshore junk just when some size shows up. Let's break it down.

Alright, we’re looking at Otter Rock (point). Straight up, the first stretch is a total washout. From July 6th through to July 10th, you’ve got nothing but poor surf conditions. The swell is there – nothing worth paddling for though, with heights sitting around 2 ft to 6 ft, but every session is cursed with a stiff cross-onshore wind ripping it apart. You’ll be looking at choppy, messy lines all week. Forget it.

We finally get a tiny flicker of hope on Saturday morning, July 11th. It’s only a marginal call with some chest-high 4 ft swell coming from the WNW, and the wind goes light cross-shore, which is a step up. The period's a short 9 seconds, so it’ll be a bit weak, and the combined wave energy is moderate (429). Honestly, it's the best-looking window in the whole run, but that’s not saying much. The crowd factor says "often", so you might have company for those meager waves.

From there it drops back into poor surf and cross-onshore wind right through to July 14th. Then, on Wednesday July 15th and Thursday July 16th, we see a few marginal mornings pop up. Especially Thursday morning, July 16th, with light WSW winds and a 2 ft groundswell from the WNW, but the period is a very long 19 seconds. For a point break like Otter Rock, that long period should wrap in and offer some nice shape, but the size is tiny. Combined energy is moderate (528). It’s a picky window for the patient local.

Then we hit a heavy stretch. From July 17th onward, the swell picks up but the wind stays horrible. By Sunday July 19th, we're looking at some proper swell – 6 ft to 7 ft from the NNW, but the period drops to a very short 7 seconds. That’s just windswell junk, and with the cross-onshore wind up to 16 mph, it’s going to be a total washing machine. The energy gets strong (661 to 751) but the quality is zero. For a beach or exposed point in that state, it looks more interesting for kite surfing than paddle surfing.

So the honest truth? There’s no standout session here. If I had to pick the best of a bad bunch, it’s Saturday morning July 11th for a few grovelly waves, and maybe the early light-wind windows on July 15th and 16th for the long-period glide, but you’ll be scratching for anything decent. Water temp is sitting at 53°F, which is a massive 5° colder than usual for this time of year – that’s a serious anomaly, so bring your thickest wetsuit. It’s gonna stay cold and poor for a while.

Rusty.

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