Surf Forecasts:
Sandy Hook/The Cove surf forecast from 26 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Thursday 30 Jul, 5PM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 7s period, ESE swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Thursday 30 Jul, 5PM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 7s period, ESE swell with 79 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 30 Jul, 5PM (local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 7s period with ESE swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Sandy Hook/The Cove this week:
The surf forecast for Sandy Hook/The Cove over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Jul 30) at 5PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.9m and 7s period with a secondary swell of 0.5m and 9s. Another secondary swell of 0.8m and 7s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Sandy Hook/The Cove in the next 16 days are 0.9m 7s and forecast to arrive on Thursday (Jul 30) at 5PM. Winds are predicted to be glassy at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.8m 4s period and expected on Tuesday (Jul 28) at 11AM.
| Wave Type | Time (EDT) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 5PM (Thu 30th Jul) | 3ft (0.9m) 7s |
| Best Surf | 5PM (Thu 30th Jul) | 3ft (0.9m) 7s |
| Most Powerful | 5PM (Thu 30th Jul) | 3ft (0.9m) 7s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Sandy Hook/The Cove over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, let's chew the fat on this one. We're looking at Sandy Hook/The Cove, a beach and reef break that's fairly open to whatever the ocean throws at it. Water temp is pretty much what you'd expect for this time of year, nothing crazy.
Looking at the whole 16-day window, it’s mostly a flat, blown-out mess, with one tiny, glassy window that’s the only thing worth even thinking about. For the first few days, we're talking tiny surf, knee-high or less, with short periods and a bunch of cross-onshore wind making it choppy and lumpy. The combined energy is weak, barely breaking 100 on the Sunday afternoon (110), so there's no push.
We've got a serious dry spell here. From the start right through the end of July, it's pretty much all poor surf conditions. Then, on Thursday, July 30th in the afternoon, the wind dies to glassy out of the NE, and we get a 3-foot swell from the ESE with a 7-second period. The combined energy jumps to a moderate 177, which is the only real pulse we see. It's described as surfable but very ordinary, which, for this spot, is the best on offer. A glassy, clean surface on a tiny wave is your one and only shot for a fun, if small, session.
After that, it's straight back to the flatness. The entire first week of August is a write-off. Swell sizes stay under 3 feet, periods are short, and the energy is consistently in the weak double digits. We get some offshore and cross-offshore winds which will make for a clean surface on the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th of August, but there's just no swell to push through. The morning of August 3rd is dead calm and glassy, but the waves are barely a ripple. From July 31st onwards, wave heights are between 0.3 ft and 2 ft, and the energy is tiny (the biggest is 41 on the afternoon of the 3rd). It's a long, flat stretch.
So, the only real standout, and I mean the *only* one, is that Thursday afternoon, July 30th. It's a short, small window, but for the diehards who can work a knee-high, glassy wave, that's your moment. The rest is a long, flat spell that's pretty normal for this break when the weather patterns don't cooperate.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 23mm), heaviest during Mon night. Warm (max 25°C on Tue afternoon, min 21°C on Sat night). Winds increasing (light winds from the ESE on Sun morning, fresh winds from the SSE by Mon afternoon). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 48mm), heaviest during Tue night. Warm (max 27°C on Thu afternoon, min 19°C on Wed night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the N on Wed night, calm by Thu afternoon). | ||||||||||||||||||
Sunday 26 | Monday 27 | Tuesday 28 | Wednesday 29 | Thursday 30 | Friday 31 | ||||||||||||||
Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 6 | SE 8 | ESE 7 | SE 7 | ESE 7 | SSE 4 | SE 8 | SE 7 | SE 5 | SE 6 | E 6 | E 6 | SE 8 | E 7 | ESE 7 | SE 10 | ESE 7 | ESE 6 | SSE 8 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 27 | 48 | 44 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 31 | 15 | 34 | 79 | 26 | 15 | 14 | 6 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | on | cross-on | cross | off | cross | cross-off | off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross | cross | glassy | cross-on | cross | cross | cross-off |
High Tide | 5:50AM1.15m | 6:10PM1.47m | 6:39AM1.19m | 6:54PM1.51m | 7:22AM1.24m | 7:33PM1.54m | 8:02AM1.28m | 8:10PM1.55m | 8:38AM1.30m | 8:45PM1.55m | 9:14AM1.33m | 9:20PM1.52m | |||||||
Low Tide | 11:44PM0.25m | 11:37AM0.30m | 00:30AM0.20m | 12:24PM0.27m | 1:14AM0.15m | 1:10PM0.25m | 1:57AM0.10m | 1:54PM0.22m | 2:37AM0.07m | 2:36PM0.21m | 3:13AM0.05m | 3:16PM0.20m | 3:47AM0.04m | ||||||
 | | |  |  | |  |  | |  | | | | |  | | | |  | |
 | — | 5:47 | — | — | 5:48 | — | — | 5:48 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — | 5:50 | — | — |
 | 8:16 | — | 8:15 | — | — | 8:15 | — | — | 8:15 | — | — | 8:14 | — | — | 8:13 | — | — | 8:12 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | 1 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 41 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 22 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 24 | 25 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 23 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
Feels °C | 20 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 23 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 21 | 18 | 19 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 25 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ESE 6 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | SE 7 | ESE 7 | E 6 | SE 8 | SSE 4 | SE 5 | SE 6 | E 6 | E 6 | ESE 7 | E 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 7 | ESE 6 | E 6 |
| kJ | 27 | 27 | 44 | 25 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 31 | 15 | 34 | 79 | 26 | 15 | 14 | 3 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | SE 8 | E 6 | — | E 6 | E 6 | E 6 | SE 7 | SE 7 | E 7 | SE 7 | SE 7 | SE 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 9 | SE 10 | SE 9 | — | SSE 8 |
| kJ | — | 48 | 24 | — | 12 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 4 | 25 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 42 | 23 | 13 | — | 6 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | S 6 | S 6 | — | — | — | S 7 | — | E 6 | E 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | SE 7 | — | — | SSE 4 | S 4 | SSE 4 | — | — | NNE 3 | NNE 3 | NNE 3 | NNE 3 | ESE 7 | — | — | SE 3 | SSE 5 |
| kJ | — | — | 39 | — | — | 17 | 9 | 27 | — | — | 4 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 56 | — | — | 8 | 13 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 30 | 20 | 233 | 5 | 234 | 862 | 11 | 335 | 1680 | 149 | 30 | 120 | 97 | 23 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 100 | 5 |
Best forecast wave conditions in New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Sandy Hook/The Cove surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Sandy Hook/The Cove Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Sandy Hook/The Cove provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Sandy Hook/The Cove can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Sandy Hook/The Cove surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Sandy Hook/The Cove) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Sandy Hook/The Cove may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Sandy Hook/The Cove is 13 km (8 miles) from Long Branch. If you plan a vacation in New Jersey, look for hotels and other accommodation in Long Branch. Long Branch has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest