Sandy Hook/The Cove Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, grab a coffee and listen up, it’s Rusty here. I’ve looked over the next 16 days and got some bad news for us: Sandy Hook/The Cove is going to be dead flat and disappointing for the most part. The whole opening stretch is a write-off, and we’re looking at a solid 11 days of basically nothing worth paddling for. This is one of those rare runs where the ocean just doesn’t want to cooperate.

From Saturday the 22nd right through to Tuesday the 1st of September, it’s a sad story. We’ve got tiny, weak swell – mostly around 0.7 ft to 2 ft – and the combined energy is pathetic, barely hitting double digits (80 is the highest in that stretch). The wind is mostly cross or cross-off, so it’s clean, but there’s just no wave to ride. Even the glassy conditions on Wednesday the 26th and Friday the 28th with zero wind don’t help when the swell is that small. It’s a no-go.

Then, we hit a bit of a shift. Wednesday the 2nd of September morning brings a pulse of 2 ft from the SE with a period of 12 seconds. The combined energy jumps to 149, which is a sign of some weak but present groundswell. The wind is cross, so it’s okay, but the waves are still poor. By Wednesday afternoon, it gets a little more interesting: 4 ft from the SE, but with a short period of 5 seconds and combined energy of 71. It’s glassy, which is a positive, but that short period will make it bumpy and weak. The conditions are just “surfable but very ordinary.” The water temperature earlier in the month was 78°F, which is 6°F warmer than average—very unusual, like a warm bath.

The real standout, if you can call it that, is Wednesday the 2nd of September afternoon. That 4 ft SE swell under glassy conditions is the only time the size gets over 3 ft, and the lack of wind will make it look clean. But with a 5-second period, it’s going to be crumbly and lacking power. The combined energy is low (71). For a beginner, this is about the only session you could consider, but don’t expect much. The best winds for the whole window are that glassy afternoon, but even then, the swell is not great.

For the rest of the run, from Thursday the 3rd of September onward, it’s back to tiny 2 ft to 2 ft junk with cross or cross-on winds. No energy, no power. The setup is a beach and reef, so with the small, weak, short-period swell, it’s not even worth a look. The only thing that saves this spot from being a complete write-off for kite surfing is that the wind is never strong enough for that either.

So, in short: forget the first week and a half. The only day that even gets a nod is the afternoon of Wednesday the 2nd of September for a clean, small, glassy session. It’s a “maybe” day, not a “must-go.” I’d keep the board waxed and wait for a better forecast.

Rusty.

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