Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty back again, this time in feet, miles, and Fahrenheit. Let’s break down what’s happening at Rockaway over the next two weeks.

Look, if you’re chasing clean, glassy surf, you’re gonna have to be patient. Most of the next week and a half is a lot of so-so stuff. The swell energy is there, but it’s nearly always fighting a cross-onshore wind. The wave heights run between about 4 ft to 6 ft, mostly from the NW at a short 8 seconds. Not tiny, but messy. Combined swell energy sits in the moderate zone for most of this period (between 279 and 762).

The one true standout, the session you want, is the morning of Tuesday 22 September. You get a clean 6 ft swell from the NW, with a 9-second period, and the wind goes completely glassy – dead calm. That’s the one. The water is 63°F, which is a big 5°F warmer than normal for this time of year. Real weird, but nice.

Before that, you got a long run of wind-affected days. Monday 14 September serves up 6 ft, but it’s choppy thanks to a moderate cross-onshore. Tuesday 15 through Thursday 17 September is a lot of medium-sized, short-period NW swell with that wind keeping it ragged. Thursday morning the 17th sees a drop to 4 ft, but it’s only marginal.

Then the surf drops way off. From the morning of Friday 18 September through to Saturday 19 September, it’s only 2 ft from the SW, but with a very long period of 18–19 seconds. For a beach-and-reef setup like Rockaway, that long period can make the waves break too straight, and the onshore wind messes it up. The energy reads 318–537 – moderate – but it’s not really rideable.

Things bounce back Sunday 20 September with 6 ft NW at 8 seconds, but again the cross-onshore wind leaves it fairly choppy. Energy is up to 693 in the morning and 762 in the afternoon.

Then we hit the big moment: Tuesday 22 September morning. Glassy wind, 6 ft NW at 9 seconds, and combined swell energy of 690. That’s your call. Go get it. That afternoon the wind turns back onshore.

Wednesday 23 September is still okay in the morning, with 5 ft NW at a nicer 10 seconds, but the wind is light cross-onshore, so it’s not as clean. Things drop off after that: from 5 ft down to 4 ft NW, energy dropping from 607 to 211 by the 25th.

Late in the month, another pulse hits on Tuesday 29 September, with a big 7 ft to 10 ft NW swell (8 seconds) and very strong energy at 1243 to 1507. But a strong onshore wind makes it a mess. Only for experienced surfers, and even then it looks ugly. That’s over a week away, but worth noting.

So mark your calendar: Tuesday 22 September morning is the session to aim for.

- Rusty

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