Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here.

To be brutally honest, the next two weeks are looking pretty grim for Rockaway. I’ve got wave energy in the water, but it’s all coming from the wrong direction and the wind is constantly messing up the face. The optimum swell is from the NW, and while we do get some of that, the wind is almost always cross-onshore or onshore, leaving it chopped up and messy. There’s a ton of energy (168) on Friday afternoon, but the 2 ft swell from the WNW and a cross-on wind makes it a write-off. The water is a very unusual 64°, which is 5° warmer than normal for this time of year.

Saturday the 22nd stays poor. It’s small, with a 2 ft WNW swell (94 energy) and a light cross-on breeze. Saturday afternoon gets a wind shift to onshore, and we get a short-period 5 ft pulse from the NW (281 energy), but it’s just going to be a blown-out mess.

Sunday morning the 23rd is the first time we see a score of 1. It’s still marginal. You’ve got a 5 ft NW swell, period of 8 seconds (359 energy), and the wind is just a light cross-shore. That’s the best of a bad bunch for the first week. It’s not great, but it’s rideable if you’re desperate. The cross-shore won’t be totally ruining it, but it’s still a beach and reef setup, so the shape will be ordinary.

From Sunday afternoon all the way through the end of the month, it’s a frustrating run. Swells pop up, like a 6 ft NW swell on Friday the 28th morning (612 energy), and a 7 ft NW swell on Saturday the 29th morning (571 energy), but the wind is always cross-onshore or onshore. For a spot that’s exposed to the NW, the wind direction is just killing it. Don’t even bother.

The real standout, and I mean the only one that gets my heart beating a little, is Tuesday morning, the 1st of September. We get a solid 7 ft NW swell, period 9 seconds, and the combined energy is a massive 1071. That’s powerful. The problem is the wind is onshore, and the report says the conditions are "unknown". It’s marginal. If you are an expert and you’re willing to risk it, that’s the biggest swell of the window. For anyone else, it’s too big (over 8 ft is expert-only, this is 7 ft, but it’s a strong, powerful wave) and likely blown out.

After that, we get a couple of very long-period (19 seconds) swells from the SW on the 3rd and 4th of September. The energy is high (551 and 678), but the swell direction is way off. That long-period groundswell is going to break straight at a beach break, and the cross-on wind will make it a crumbly, hard-to-ride mess. Not worth the paddle out.

In short, the whole 16 days is a bust. If you have to get wet, try Sunday morning the 23rd for the cleanest, smallest option. If you’re an expert looking for power, the 1st of September is the only day with real grunt, but the wind is against you. Otherwise, the kite surfers might have a better time with the consistent onshore winds and the bigger swells later in the period.

Rusty.

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