Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, this is Rusty, and I’m looking at the next 16 days for Rockaway. Gotta be straight with you—it’s a tough stretch. The water’s sitting at 73°, which is a touch warmer than usual for this time of year, but that’s about the only thing that’s slightly out of the ordinary.

Right now, through the first week and a bit, there’s practically nothing doing. The energy is weak; we’re seeing combined swell energy readings in the teens and twenties (26, 21, 15), which is just barely a pulse. The swell is tiny, mostly around 1 ft to 2 ft, and coming out of the ESE or SE with short, weak periods—mostly 6 to 8 seconds. The wind is all over the place, but it’s not working in our favor. We get a few windows of clean, offshore wind, like on Friday afternoon with a NW breeze, but the swell is just too small to hold a decent wave. The system is basically flat, and the data says "poor surf conditions" for almost every slot.

There’s a gap of about eight days where you’re better off doing something else. The first real glimmer of hope doesn’t show up until Saturday the 12th of September. The morning session sees a clean, gentle offshore wind from the WNW, and the swell lifts to a consistent 3 ft from the east. The period is still short at 6 seconds, so it’s going to be a bit weak and crumbly, but the combined energy bumps up to a moderate 74—enough to push a few rideable waves. The afternoon stays clean with a light NW breeze, and the swell holds at 3 ft. It’s surfable, but very ordinary. If you’re desperate for a paddle, that’s your window.

Then on Sunday the 13th, the morning holds a little hope with a light WSW breeze and a 2 ft swell from the ESE, but it’s not going to get the heart racing. The afternoon falls apart again with a strong S wind.

After that, we slide back into a pattern of poor surf. The energy picks up a bit around Monday the 14th (125 and 106), but it’s with a cross-shore or onshore wind, and the swell is still only 2 ft to 3 ft with a 9-second period. It’s messy and not worth the drive.

The last few days of the outlook, from the 17th to the 19th, are more of the same: small, weak swell, onshore or cross-onshore winds, and combined energy barely cracking 90. Honestly, for the whole 16-day run, it’s a flat spell. The best you’ll get is a couple of clean, small-wave sessions on the 12th and maybe the morning of the 13th.

If you’re a beginner, the swell never goes over 5 ft, but the quality is so low it’s not really a learning opportunity. For more experienced surfers, there’s just no juice. The whole setup looks more interesting for a longboard cruise on the 12th than anything else. Don’t hold your breath.

Rusty.

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