Rockaway Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’ve got to be straight with you – if you’re hanging out for a decent paddle in the Rockaway area over the next couple of weeks, you’re gonna be waiting a while. The whole 16-day window is a tough one, with barely a whisper of rideable surf. We’ve got a gap of almost no recommendations right from the start, stretching through to the second week of September. The swell is tiny, the energy is weak, and the wind is a pain in the backside most days.

Let’s run through it. It all kicks off Tuesday the 25th of August with a measly 1ft of swell out of the SE, period at 11 seconds, but the combined energy is only 24 – which is weak as dishwater. A westerly cross-offshore keeps it clean, but it’s just too small to bother. Wednesday the 26th is similar: 1ft SE swell in the morning, clean with a light W wind, but still no go. The afternoon gets a bit more height at 2ft from the SSE, but the wind swings southerly at 16 mph, making it a choppy cross-onshore mess. Energy hits 100, which is still only moderate, but the conditions are poor.

Thursday the 27th is a write-off with risk of thunderstorms, strong SSW winds, and lumpy, cross-onshore slop. Friday the 28th offers a tiny glimmer: a clean 2ft SE swell in the morning thanks to a light northerly, and by the afternoon it goes glassy with a WSW breeze. The energy is still weak (84 and 81), and the wave comment says “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions.” That’s about the best we get, and it’s a real stretch to call it a standout – it’s ankle-snappers at best. From there, it’s grim: Saturday the 29th through Monday the 31st of August, all poor conditions with tiny swell.

September starts off no better. Tuesday the 1st has a 1ft SE swell with a long 14-second period, but the combined energy is a pitiful 51. It’s clean, but there’s nothing to ride. The rest of the first week is a blur of small, onshore junk, with winds often over 13 mph, making it choppy and crummy. The water temp is sitting at 75°F, which feels a touch warmer than normal for this time of year.

We finally see a small shift around Saturday the 5th of September, with a 2ft SE swell and a light WSW cross-off offshore in the morning – “surfable waves but very ordinary conditions” again, energy at 59. But it’s still tiny. The pattern holds through Sunday the 6th, Monday the 7th, and Tuesday the 8th, with little change.

The only real glimmer of hope comes on Wednesday the 9th of September. We get a solid offshore wind from the NW at 16-19 mph, which will groom the surface clean. The swell bumps up to 2ft from the ESE, period around 8-9 seconds, and the combined energy hits 68. It’s still small and weak, but with that fresh offshore wind, it’s the cleanest the wave faces will be the entire forecast. For a log or a longboard, you might find a fun little crumbler at the break, but it’s nothing to get excited about. This is the best on offer, and it’s a long way from pumping.

If you’re a kite surfer, the stronger cross-onshore days with building wind might be more your thing, but for a paddle surfer, it’s a bloody quiet fortnight. You’d be better off checking the forecast again in a few days – sometimes things change quick.

Rusty.

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