Seaside Heights/Casino Pier Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let’s be real with you – this is a tough one.

We’re looking at Seaside Heights/Casino Pier, and honestly, we’ve got a 16-day window that’s almost entirely flat. The combined energy of the swells is barely a whisper, with the highest reading hitting just 41 (weak energy) for a brief moment. The water is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, sitting at 73°, but that’s about the only thing working in our favour.

The first couple of days are a write-off. Saturday afternoon the 11th offers a tiny 0.7 ft swell from the ESE with onshore E winds at 9 mph. It’s a dud. Sunday the 12th sees a pulse of 3 ft from the E, but with a period of only 5 seconds and winds blowing 12 mph onshore, it’s just messy, choppy junk. Through Monday and Tuesday we’re stuck in the same pattern: tiny, weak, wind-affected waves. The combined energy drops into the teens and low twenties.

By Wednesday the 15th, the wind finally backs off to a light offshore from the W and WSW, barely 9 mph. The problem is the swell is still a pathetic 1 ft from the SE with a short period. It’s clean, but there’s nothing to ride. That pattern of clean but tiny surf hangs around through to the 19th, with combined energy values dropping to single digits. It’s the kind of flat spell that makes you wonder if the ocean forgot to show up.

There’s a brief flicker on the 19th – a little 2 ft S swell with a 4-second period, and the wind is cross-off from the SSW. It’s clean, but the period is so short it’ll be a dribbly close-out. The energy is still weak at 15. After that, it’s back to the flatlands for the rest of the month. From the 20th through the 26th of July, we don’t see a single wave over 2 ft. The combined energy readings are mostly in the single digits – a 1, a 2, a 3. It’s grim.

There is no standout here. The only piece of surf on offer is the 3 ft E swell on Sunday the 12th, but with onshore winds and a 5-second period, that’s a hard pass. The energy is too weak, and the quality is poor. For a beach/jetty that’s fully exposed to the NE, we’re just not getting the right angle or the size. This is a true lull.

If you’re a kite surfer, the moderate cross-shore and cross-onshore winds on a few of those days might be more interesting than anything for a paddle surfer. For the rest of us, it’s a time to wax the longboard and wait.

Rusty.

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