Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer at Otter Rock for the next couple of weeks.

The overall picture here is pretty grim, I’m not gonna lie. We’ve got a long stretch of nothing special, with a whole lot of messy, cross-onshore wind messing up what little swell there is. The water temp is sitting about average for the time of year, nothing wild there.

The best bet in the whole 16-day window comes on Monday, July 20th, in the afternoon. The wind goes glassy, and that’s a rare treat. The swell is a clean 5ft from the NW, with a short period of 9 seconds, so it’ll be a bit fat and crumbly at this point break, but with no wind to mess it up, it’ll be the cleanest we see all window. The combined wave energy is moderate at 605. It’s not a standout for size, but for quality, it’s the only real window of clean surf. Keep in mind, Otter Rock is a fairly consistent spot, so the lack of options is a bit of a bummer.

Before that, from Wednesday July 15th through to the morning of Monday July 20th, it’s mostly poor. The wind is almost always cross-on, making the surf choppy and uninviting. Swell heights range from a tiny 1ft up to 6ft, but the wind just ruins it. The combined energy stays in the 400-976 range, so it’s all weak to moderate. The morning of Sunday July 19th sees a 6ft swell from the NW, but it’s short period at 8 seconds and cross-on wind, so it’s a messy, blown-out mess.

After that one decent window on Monday the 20th, it goes back to average. Tuesday July 21st has onshore wind and a dropping swell. The rest of the week into the end of July is a rinse and repeat of cross and cross-onshore wind, mostly from the NNW, with small to moderate swells. The combined energy does get up into the 1000s on the 27th, but the wind is too strong to make it good for a paddle surfer. A few of those days with strong cross-shore wind and 5ft to 5ft swell from the NW might actually look way more interesting for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

So, to sum it up: the only real standout is a glassy window on Monday afternoon, July 20th. The rest of the 16 days is a write-off for quality surf. It’s a long gap of poor conditions, but hopefully the pattern shifts.

Rusty.

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