Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let's have a look at what's coming our way for Rockaway.

Honestly, for the next couple of weeks, it’s looking like we’re stuck in a bit of a flat spell. The surf is going to be small and mostly disappointing. There’s a real lack of any decent swell energy coming through, with the combined energy sitting mostly in the weak 20s and 30s, and only a few blips of moderate energy later on. The wind and conditions are also going to make it a tough slog.

We start off really grim. From Tuesday the 25th of August right through to Monday the 31st of August, it’s just tiny, poor surf. The swell height is barely moving, usually around 1 ft to 2 ft from the SE or SSE, with very weak energy. Winds are often cross-onshore, making things choppy and messy. There’s a brief moment on Friday the 28th of August in the afternoon when it cleans up a bit with light WSW winds, but the waves are still just surfable, nothing to get excited about. The water is about 75°F, which is a touch warmer than usual for the time of year.

We roll into September, and things don’t really turn around. Monday the 31st of August afternoon actually shows a tiny bit of hope with a 3 ft swell from the S and clean conditions, but the period is a pathetic 4 seconds, so it’ll be weak and crumbly. The standouts, if you can call them that, are the afternoon of Tuesday the 1st of September. We get glassy conditions with a 1 ft SE groundswell that has a very long 15-second period, but the combined energy is still weak at 69. It’ll be clean, but you’ll be waiting a long time between waves. Then, on Saturday the 5th of September, the morning has a 3 ft SE swell with a 144 combined energy (moderate) and clean cross-offshore winds. That’s probably the best of the whole forecast, but even then, it’s described as "poor surf conditions" for the morning, and just "surfable" in the afternoon. The Sunday the 6th of September morning is similar with moderate energy at 113, but still small.

Honestly, it’s a pretty blank run. The beach is exposed to the SSE swell, but the size just isn’t there, and when we do get a pulse of energy, the conditions are often marginal. There’s nothing that’s going to be truly standout, and for beginners, the swell never really gets over 5 ft, so it’s not too big for them, but it’s too small for anyone else. If you’re desperate for a paddle, the clean windows with the long period swells might give you a few glassy lines at a point break, but for the beach breaks it’ll be too straight.

Rusty.

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