The Cove Cape May Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s cut to it: the next two weeks are a flat, choppy mess. There’s a long stretch of nothing, a couple of blown-out pulses, and one morning that might just save you from losing your mind.

For the first week, from the 18th through the 25th, it’s tiny and weak. We’re talking waves from ankle to knee-high, with energy readings like 21, 23, and 35. That’s not surf, that’s just the lake breathing. Winds are mostly cross or cross-on, so the surface is always a bit crinkled. The 21st has a glassy morning, but there’s only 0.2m of swell – not worth the drive. You can write this whole first week off. That’s about a seven-day gap with no real recommendations.

Things try to wake up on the 26th. The energy builds to 82, then 115, but it’s all buried under a moderate southeast cross-on wind. Swell is still tiny, only 0.4m. The 27th afternoon sees the most interesting shift. The wind goes west-southwest and cross-on, and the swell bumps to 1.3m. Energy hits 298 – that’s moderate – but the period is a short 7 seconds, so it’s a bumpy, wind-driven mess. The 28th and 29th are back to the doldrums with cross-shore winds and waves under a meter.

Now, the one highlight, the only real standout, is the morning of the 31st of August. We finally get a pulse of proper swell – 1.6m from the east with a 7-second period, and the energy jumps to 242. At The Cove Cape May (New Jersey), that will give you some rideable, if a bit sectiony, waves. The wind is light and cross-on, so it won’t be glass, but it’s the cleanest and biggest we’ve seen all stretch. The afternoon gets bigger at 1.7m, but the wind jumps to 25 km/h from the southeast, and it’ll be all chopped up. For an intermediate surfer, that morning window is your best bet.

After that, we fall flat again. The 1st and 2nd of September have only 0.6m waves and weak energy in the 50-90 range. Forget it.

For most of this period, the setup looks better for a kite than a surfboard – especially the windier, bigger days around the 27th and 31st afternoons. Water temp is about normal for the season. Be patient, keep your expectations low, and mark that 31st morning on the calendar. It’s not perfect, but it’s something.

Rusty.

Read more