Rock Island Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let's have a look at what's coming down the pipe for Rock Island.

Right off the bat, the first week is a bit of a write-off. We've got a long dry spell with tiny, weak swells and mostly onshore or cross-onshore winds. Through Friday the 3rd, Saturday, Sunday, and all the way into Monday the 6th, it's pretty much flat or just messy. The combined swell energy is barely a whisper, reading 34 to just over 100 (106), which feels like a lake. Not worth paddling out for.

Then things change on Tuesday the 7th. That morning glass-off is a beauty – clear skies, no wind, the water's glassy. A new south-southeast groundswell pushes in at about 4ft, with a very long period of 17 seconds and a combined energy reading of 754. That's proper moderate energy. The water temp is about average for this time of year, so nothing wild there. The problem? The optimum swell direction for Rock Island is from the south, and this is coming from the south-southeast, so it's not a perfect match. Still, that clean, glassy morning with a long-period groundswell will offer some fun ones, especially for the more skilled crew, though the long period can make it a bit straight at a reef.

The real standout, the one I'm getting a little excited about, is Friday the 10th. It's a week away, so treat it as promising, not locked in. But look at this – Friday morning is glassy, dead calm, with a solid 8ft south groundswell, a very long 18-second period, and combined energy hitting 3903. That's strong. That's a proper swell direction for the reef, and it's clean. This is "excellent surf conditions for experienced surfers" – that 8ft is big and powerful, not for beginners or the faint of heart. It'll be a paddling mission with those long-set gaps, but for the experts, this could be the session of the outlook. Friday afternoon the wind swings onshore, so the morning window is everything.

The swell drops after that. We get some okay leftovers on Saturday the 11th and Sunday the 12th, but the winds turn a bit messy. By the second week, from the 13th onward, it's back to small, weak, and mostly poor. There's a little glimmer on Friday the 17th with some clean cross-off winds and a small 1.5ft south-southwest swell, but the energy is low (73), so it's a tiny wave for a small board or a longboard.

Overall, the play is patience. There's one absolute gem on the morning of Friday the 10th, and a decent Tuesday morning on the 7th. Everything else is a desert.

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