Otter Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s have a look at what’s on the cards for Otter Rock.

Straight up, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it—this 16-day stretch is a grind. There’s no real standout session, and a lot of the time the wind and swell just aren’t lining up. You’ll be scratching your head more than you’ll be scratching a rail. The waiting game starts now.

We kick off on Saturday the 18th of July. The swell is a small 3 ft from the WNW, but that 16-second period is a long, clean groundswell—nice energy in the water with a combined energy of 742 (moderate). Problem is, we’ve got a stiff 9 mph cross-onshore breeze and it’s already choppy. By afternoon, the wind picks up to 19 mph and it’s straight cross-shore, making a lumpy mess of things. Not worth paddling out.

Sunday the 19th sees a quick drop in period to just 7 seconds. That’s short-period wind chop, not proper swell. The morning bump is 5 ft, but it’s crossed up and the wind is 12 mph cross-shore. Scores are low. Afternoon gets worse. Forget it.

Monday the 20th is a little bit better, but still not good. The morning has a light 6 mph cross-shore breeze and a 5.5 ft NW swell, but the period is still only 8 seconds—so it’s weak and lumpy. The combined energy sits at 670 (moderate), but the quality is marginal. You might get a couple of close-outs, but it’s not worth the drive.

Tuesday the 21st through Wednesday the 22nd is more of the same: small, cross-onshore, and choppy. The swell height hovers around 4 ft to 4.5 ft, period crawling up to 9 seconds, but the wind stays onshore. The water temperature is about average for the time of year, nothing weird going on there.

Now, Thursday the 23rd of July offers a slight glimmer. The swell is 6 ft from the NW with a 9-second period, and the wind is a light 6 mph cross-on. The combined energy is 603 (moderate). It’s still marginal—the morning is your best bet, with those small ripples from the wind. It’s not clean, but it’s the closest we get to a decent session in the first week. The afternoon is similar.

Friday the 24th of July brings a bigger push: 6 ft NW swell in the morning, building to 7 ft from the NNW by afternoon. But the period is still 9 seconds, so it’s a bit fat. The combined energy jumps to 1003 (strong) in the afternoon, but the wind is 12 mph cross-onshore, making it choppy. That’s borderline expert territory at 7 ft, and with the wind, it’s gonna be a messy, walled-up beast. Not for the faint-hearted.

Then we hit a weird one on Saturday the 25th of July. The morning shows a tiny 2 ft swell from the WSW, but with a massive 22-second period. That’s a very long-period groundswell. The combined energy is only 631 (moderate), but the wind is 9 mph cross-on. This kind of long-period swell at a point break like Otter Rock can be fun if the direction is right, but the size is small and the wind is onshore. It’s more of a head-scratcher than a highlight. The afternoon sees a 3 ft SW groundswell with a 21-second period, but the wind jumps to 12 mph cross-on, making it choppy again. The energy jumps to 1105 (strong), but it’s messy.

Sunday the 26th of July and Monday the 27th of July are a write-off: cross-onshore winds, small SW groundswells, and poor conditions. The combined energy is moderate to strong, but it’s all blown apart.

The rest of the week into early August is a wasteland. We’ve got a gap of several days here with no real recommendations. The wind is mostly cross or cross-on, the swell is either too small or too short-period, and the scores are all zeros. Tuesday the 28th of July through Thursday the 30th of July is a mix of SW groundswells with 16-17 second periods, but the wind is 12-19 mph, making it nothing but lumpy chop. Not worth a paddle.

Finally, on Friday the 31st of July, we get a 5 ft NW swell in the morning with a 9-second period, and a 12 mph cross-shore wind. The combined energy is 509 (moderate). It’s marginal, but the morning is the least bad option we’ve seen in a while. The afternoon gets worse.

The first weekend of August (1st and 2nd) is back to small,

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