Oyster Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's on the menu.

First up, we're looking at Oyster Bay, and the water is sitting at about 63°, which is a bit colder than normal for this time of year—about 3° cooler, so you'll want a decent suit.

The week kicks off Monday the 7th with a bit of a frustrating start. There’s a solid 7ft SSW swell pushing a lot of energy (3087), but a strong cross-offshore wind from the east makes it a bit of a battle. It’s clean, but the wind is a handful. Not worth jumping in for.

Forget that. The real standout is Tuesday morning, September 8th. The wind goes glassy, dead calm, light offshore from the WSW at just 3 mph. The swell drops to a clean 4ft from the SW with a nice long 13-second period. That's proper glassy, clean surf. The wave energy is moderate (1054), and while Oyster Bay is a sandbar that can be inconsistent, when it's like this, it's a dream for an intermediate surfer. This is the best on offer in the whole window.

Tuesday afternoon gets a bit messy with a cross-shore ESE breeze, and Wednesday through to the weekend is a mixed bag of smaller swells and cross-shore winds. Thursday the 10th is poor, with a choppy cross-onshore wind. Friday the 11th sees the swell pick back up to 6-7ft (SW) with a 13-second period, and while the wind is cross-offshore and the surf looks clean, the energy is strong (1271-1393) and conditions are described as marginal. Probably worth a look if you're desperate, but not the pick.

Now, Saturday morning, September 12th is another highlight. You’ve got a clean 6ft SW swell (12-second period) with a light offshore ENE breeze. The combined energy is moderate (980) and the conditions are expected to be very good. A solid, clean option.

Sunday the 13th has a bigger 8ft SW swell (15-second period) with a lot of energy (4247), but the wind is a cross-offshore. It's big, and the long period (15 seconds) means it might be a bit straight for a sandbar, but for experienced surfers, it’s clean and powerful.

Then things get messy again from mid-week. The swell gets huge from the 16th onwards—Monday the 16th has a 13ft SW swell (16-second period) with strong onshore winds. That’s just a washing machine for paddle surfing. If you've got a kite, the setup from Wednesday the 16th through Friday the 18th looks interesting, with strong cross-onshore winds and big, lumpy waves, but for a surfboard, it's a hard no.

The big news for the second week is Saturday, September 19th. There's a 10ft swell from the ESE, but the period is a short 9 seconds. The wind is dead calm, glassy in the morning. The problem? The models say the swell is predicted to be too big for this break, which is a shame because the wind is ideal. If you're an expert and can handle a peaky, short-period 10ft wave with no wind, it might be on, but be warned. After that, Sunday the 20th sees the swell drop back to 6ft with a longer 15-second period, but cross-onshore winds mess it up.

The very end of the window, Monday and Tuesday the 22nd and 23rd, shows a massive 13-15ft SW swell (12-second period) with strong cross-offshore winds. Again, the models say it's too big for the break. The energy is massive (4703-6507). For experts only, and even then, it's a gamble.

Bottom line: If you can only pick one session, make it Tuesday morning, September 8th for the glassy, clean 4ft swell. Saturday morning, September 12th is your next best bet for clean, fun waves. The rest of the window is either too small, too windy, or way too big.

Rusty.

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