Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let's get into it. The next couple of weeks are looking pretty bleak for Otter Rock. Honestly, it’s a bit of a rough stretch for us. The water’s running real cold, about 6° colder than normal for this time of year, which is a big deal. You’re gonna need that extra hood or a thick suit, no doubt about it.

The combo of the wind angle and the swell direction is just not doing us any favors. We've got a lot of cross and cross-onshore wind, stirring up chop and making things messy. The swell is coming from the NW, but the north wind is just tearing it up.

Starting now, there's no good surf on the table for over a week. The energy is weak, like 193 to 250, and the waves are small, all under 4 ft. Don't even bother paddling out until we get past the 17th. It’s a flat spell with a few junky leftovers, but nothing with any push or shape.

Things start to move a little on Monday, the 18th, but it's still not great. The swell builds but the quality is still poor. The energy jumps to 607 in the morning, with 4 ft of WNW groundswell, but the wind is cross-onshore and the period is 12 seconds. It’s just messy. The afternoon sees a bigger jump in energy to 1126 with 5 ft waves, but still with that cross-shore wind making it lumpy. You might find a few, but it's not a session I'd plan my day around.

The only thing that looks like it has some life in it is Wednesday the 19th. The swell is bigger, and the energy is the strongest we'll see. Morning sees 7 ft of WNW swell with a 12-second period and the energy is up at 1740. And for Otter Rock, with that long-period swell, it might actually have a chance to hold shape a bit better. The wind is cross-shore, which isn't ideal, but the size and power are there. The afternoon backs off slightly to 7 ft but the energy is still strong at 1382. The period drops a bit to 12 seconds and the wind picks up. This is your only real shot in the whole window if you're an experienced surfer. That's big enough that the beginners should sit it out.

After that, it fades back down. The rest of the week and into the weekend sees the swell drop back under 3 ft and the energy levels fall back to the low to mid 400s. The wind is still a factor, so it's back to looking at the forecast and hoping for something better.

Bottom line: we got a long, blank stretch before a brief pulse of interesting energy on the 19th. Don't hold your breath for much else. The setup looks like it might be better for kite surfing than paddle surfing with all this side wind and chop. It’s looking pretty grim. Keep an eye on the charts, but don’t be surprised if you stay dry.

Rusty.

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