Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, checking in on Rockaway. This is a tough one to call, but let's get into it.

The start of the forecast period is a real mixed bag. There's swell on offer, but the wind keeps cocking it up. The water feels weirdly warm for the time of year, about 3° warmer than usual, which is pretty notable. For the first week, we've got a consistent NW swell rolling in, but it's almost always dealing with a cross-onshore breeze. The best of a not-great bunch looks like Sunday morning, July 12th. The swell's a solid 6 ft from the NW, and while the wind is just cross-shore and light (6 mph), it's going to be cleaner than anything else around. The energy is in the moderate range (534). It's a beach and reef set-up here, and the wave period is a short 8 seconds, so it won't be the most powerful shape, but at least the chop will be minimal.

For the rest of the first week, it's a write-off. The wind is pretty much always cross-onshore, and the surf commentary keeps telling us the conditions are poor. The swell bumps up to well over 8 ft on the 15th and 16th, which is expert territory anyway, but with the choppy wind, it's not going to be appealing. The energy gets into a strong range (1134 on Wednesday afternoon), but it's messy.

The second week is a total change. We see a massive drop in swell size, down to about 2 ft from the 17th. The period does get long though, spiking to 18 seconds over the weekend. This is a proper groundswell, with moderate to strong energy (670 on July 18th morning). This kind of long-period swell can get a bit too straight at a beach break like Rockaway, so don't expect easy barrels. The problem is, the wind is still a persistent cross-onshore, so any chance of clean waves is gone. It's a frustrating pattern.

Overall, the best call is that Sunday morning session on July 12th. It's not a classic, but for this stretch, it's the only time the stars halfway align for a paddle.

Rusty.

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