Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee and listen up. I'm looking at the 16-day forecast and I'll be honest with you, it's a tough one. Otter Rock is the only game in town, and she's playing a sad song for most of the run.

We start off with the water temp at Otter Rock. It's sitting at 53°, which is a whopping 6° colder than usual for this time of year. That's way out of the ordinary, so you'll be needing a thick steamer and probably some booties. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The first real chance to paddle out looks like Thursday morning, the 20th of August. We’ve got a clean 5 ft swell from the west-northwest, with a period of 11 seconds—that’s a nice bit of groundswell energy. The wind is glassy, coming straight from the west at only 3 mph, which is a major positive. The combined energy is moderate at 853. It's a point break, so it's exposed, and the optimum swell direction is west, so this is a good match. The crowd situation is "often" busy, so expect some company. This is the standout. It’s not huge, but it’s the cleanest wave we’re going to see.

After that, things get messy. Friday the 21st sees the swell drop to 3 ft in the morning, with a bit of a gusty onshore wind. It's marginal. The afternoon bumps up to 4 ft but the period drops to 8 seconds, so it's a weak, choppy windswell. Not great.

Saturday the 22nd and Sunday the 23rd are a write-off. Strong cross-shore winds from the south and north-northwest, with lumpy, choppy conditions. The swell is small and weak, and the energy is low. You’d just be fighting the wind.

Then we hit a big lull. From Monday the 24th of August all the way through to the end of the month, the waves are tiny. We're talking 1 ft to 2 ft with long, weak periods. The wind is mostly cross-shore and strong, keeping the surface a mess. There's a lot of days of "poor surf conditions" in a row here. It's a frustrating gap.

The last few days of the run into early September offer a flicker of hope, but it's a long-range call. The morning of Saturday the 29th of August has a 4 ft swell from the northwest with a very short 6-second period, and a light onshore wind. It's marginal. Monday the 31st of August afternoon looks a bit better with a 5 ft swell from the north-northwest and a light offshore wind from the west-northwest at 6 mph. That's a promising setup, but the period is still a short 7 seconds. The energy is moderate at 435. It's a solid maybe.

Then, on Thursday the 3rd of September morning, we see a 4 ft west-northwest swell with a 10-second period, and a light northwesterly cross-onshore wind. The energy is moderate at 419. It's flagged as marginal, but with the right tide, it could be a fun little session.

So, to wrap it up: Thursday the 20th is your best bet. It's the only day that checks all the boxes for clean, rideable surf. Everything else is either blown out, tiny, or just plain marginal. The second week is a watch-and-wait situation, but don't get your hopes up too high.

-Rusty

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