Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's get stuck into what we've got coming up for the Otter Rock area.

Honestly, looking at the whole 16-day run, it's a bit of a tough stretch for paddle surfing. The wind is almost constantly coming from the north-northwest or northwest, which puts a cross-onshore chop on the waves nearly every session. The water is a chilly 50°, a full 9° colder than normal for this time of year—that’s a serious anomaly, so you’ll want a thick wetsuit and booties if you’re heading out.

There are no true standouts here. The swell energy is mostly weak, with values rarely breaking into the triple digits. For the first week, from Wednesday the 12th right through to Tuesday the 18th, it’s a wasteland. Swell heights are tiny, mostly under 2ft, and the wind is just constantly messing up any potential. The best you can hope for is a marginal, questionable tide session on Friday morning, the 14th, with 4ft of short-period, 7-second NW windswell, but with that cross-onshore breeze, it’s not going to be pretty.

The second week shows a slight pulse of energy. On Wednesday the 19th, we start to see some moderate combined swell energy (456) with a 3ft swell from the WNW at 12 seconds. The wind is still light and cross-onshore though, so it'll be lumpy. Thursday the 20th morning looks the most promising of the entire period. The combined swell energy ramps up to a strong 881, with 5ft of swell from the WNW at 11 seconds. The wind is light out of the northwest, still cross-onshore, but light enough that it might clean up a bit. This is the only time the swell gets over 5ft, but it’s not huge, so intermediate surfers could give it a crack. For a point break like Otter Rock, that longer-period, moderate WNW swell is the best direction we've got, but the persistent wind is the killer.

After that, the energy drops back down into the weak range for the rest of the run. The last few days of August see some NNW windswell appear with periods as low as 6 seconds, which is just rubbish for a point break. There are a few days with no recommendations at all, particularly the first week, but the whole forecast is pretty grim.

If you’re a kite surfer, those afternoon sessions with 12-18 mph cross-shore winds and a bit of chop might actually be more fun than trying to catch a grovelly wave on a paddle board. For the rest of us, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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