The Cove Cape May Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s get into it.

Look, I’ve been staring at the charts for The Cove Cape May, and I gotta be straight with you – it’s a pretty bleak stretch for a while. The first week and a half is looking like a whole lot of nothing. We’re talking about a solid stretch from now until, well, the 16th, where the swell is just tiny and the wind is mostly junk. You’re looking at knee-high dribble with onshore breezes messing up any chance of a clean face. It’s the kind of week where you’re better off checking the sandbars after a storm, and even then, you might be out of luck.

The first real glimmer of anything surfable doesn’t show up until Monday the 17th. And even that is a bit of a tease. We finally get a pulse of easterly windswell, pushing the surf up to around 4ft. The energy jumps up too, hitting a moderate 107. The problem is the period is short, only 6 seconds, so it’s going to be lumpy and disorganized. Still, the morning of the 17th has a clean look to it with a light offshore breeze, so it might be your best chance to get a few grovelly ones if you’re desperate. The afternoon gets a bit more cross-shore, and honestly, it just doesn’t look like it’s going to offer much more than a closeout.

The swell sticks around for Tuesday the 18th, with similar heights around 3ft and a touch more energy at 165, but the winds are cross-shore again, keeping things messy. It’s surfable, but it’s not going to be pretty. The period is still short, so expect a lot of fat, crumbly waves that don't have much push.

Then, the swell fades back down for the 19th and 20th. We get a bit of glass on the morning of the 19th, but the swell has already dropped back to 2ft. It’s a letdown. The rest of the window is looking flat again.

So, here’s the deal. With this kind of long-range outlook, near-term calls are more reliable, and the long-range stuff on the 17th and 18th is promising but I wouldn’t be making any plans for it. The swell direction is from the east, which is okay for this spot, but it’s not its absolute optimum. The break is fairly consistent, but it needs a decent swell to really work. With the lack of any real size and the constant onshores, this setup looks more interesting for the kite surfers than us paddle surfers for most of this period.

It’s a tough one, but it tends not to stay poor for long around here. Forecasts can change. Keep an eye on it.

Rusty.

Read more