72nd Place Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here. Let's get into the outlook for 72nd Place. Gotta be straight with you, it’s been a quiet stretch and looks like staying that way for a good while.

First up, water temps are sitting about average for this time of year at 66°, so nothing out of the ordinary. The first chance of any surf at 72nd Place is on Tuesday, July 7th, but honestly, it’s a rough start. We’ve got a 3ft SSW groundswell with a very long 18-second period. That kind of period can mean nice shaped waves, but the energy is moderate at best (709). The real killer is the cross-onshore breeze. It’s choppy and messy, and for a break that’s already sheltered from a lot of swell, the quality just isn’t there. This spot is already inconsistent, and with conditions like this, it's hard to get excited.

Wednesday the 8th has a slight bump into 3ft, but the morning is saved by a low score – the wind switches onshore from the SW, which is great, giving clean conditions, but the forecast says marginal surf or questionable tide. The period is still very long at 16 seconds. It's a tease. By afternoon, the wind goes cross-onshore again and it's back to poor surf.

From Thursday the 9th right through to Tuesday the 14th, it’s a real grind. Swell sizes drop from 3ft down to 2ft, and the energy drops off significantly, down to 179. The wind stays mostly cross-onshore, keeping the surface choppy. For a break that's rated as an advanced wave and inconsistent, this flat spell is pretty typical. There’s nothing worth paddling out for in this stretch.

We get a little bump in the long-range, but it's a long way off. On Sunday, July 19th, swell picks up to 4ft from the S, and the energy jumps up to a strong 1067. The period is a bit shorter at 14 seconds, so it'll have more push than the earlier long-period stuff. But again, the wind is cross-onshore from the S all morning, making it marginal at best. Afternoon stays onshore. For a break that's this inconsistent, seeing a pulse like that is interesting, but the wind is just not cooperating to make it clean. It’s a bit of a miss.

Bottom line: There’s not a single standout session in this 16-day window. The surf is mostly small, the wind is mostly on the wrong side, and the break itself is hard to catch working. If you're a kiter, that cross-onshore wind and small chop might look more interesting than it does for a surfer. For the rest of us, it’s a long wait for conditions to line up.

Stay patient.
Rusty.

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