The South Jetty Surf Break

Lat Long: 39.39° N 74.39° W

The South Jetty Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Issued: 7 pm 06 Aug 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in  hr  min

Today's The South Jetty sea temperature is
24.7° C
1.3° 

The South Jetty surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.


The South Jetty surf forecast from 7 Aug 2026:

  • Best quality surf: Saturday 8 Aug, 2AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 5s period, S swell with cross-offshore winds.
  • Most powerful swell: Sunday 9 Aug, 5AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 6s period, S swell with 84 kJ wave energy.
  • Next surfable swell (1★+): Saturday 8 Aug, 2AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.0m), 5s period with S swell.

Best Forecast Surf Conditions for The South Jetty this week:

The surf forecast for The South Jetty over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Saturday (Aug 08) at 2AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.0m and 5s period with a secondary swell of 0.3m and 8s. Another secondary swell of 0.1m and 9s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.

The most powerful waves expected at The South Jetty in the next 16 days are 1.0m 6s and forecast to arrive on Sunday (Aug 09) at 5AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 0.6m 4s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 09) at 5AM.

Wave TypeTime (EDT) & Date Wave Height & Period
Next good surf (1 star+) 2AM (Sat 8th Aug)3.5ft (1.0m) 5s
Best Surf 2AM (Sat 8th Aug)3.5ft (1.0m) 5s
Most Powerful 5AM (Sun 9th Aug)3.5ft (1.0m) 6s

Table - best surf conditions forecast for The South Jetty over the next 16 days.


The Lowdown

G’day, Rusty here. Let’s be straight with you – this outlook for The South Jetty is a tough one. There’s a real dry spell on the cards for the next week and a half, with barely a ripple worth getting wet for. We’re looking at a long gap of small, weak swell and poor conditions, before a late pulse of energy shows up around the 18th of August. Even then, it’s messy. Let’s walk through it.

The South Jetty is a beach and jetty setup, and it’s exposed to the south-east. For the first nine days, from Friday 7 August right through to the middle of the month, it’s flat out frustrating. Every session is marked as poor surf conditions. The swell sits around 1 ft to 3 ft, with periods between 5 and 7 seconds – that’s weak, short-period wind swell. The combined swell energy is tiny, ranging from 10 to 74 (that’s weak energy). The wind is all over the shop: cross, cross-on, and cross-off, with a few clean windows on Sunday 9 August morning and Tuesday 11 August, but the waves are just too small and gutless to do anything with. You’d be floating on a log, not surfing.

There’s a real lull from 14 August to 17 August, with swell dropping to 1 ft to 2 ft and energy barely scraping 20. A few offshore mornings on 14 August (NW wind, 9 mph) and 21 August (NNW, 12 mph) keep it clean, but the waves are ankle-high. It’s not worth paddling out.

Then, around Tuesday 18 August, we see a bump. The morning brings 5 ft swell from the SE, with a period of 5 seconds and combined energy at 126 (moderate). The wind is a gentle cross-shore from the ENE at 9 mph. That’s the biggest swell in the whole run, but it’s short-period and there’s slight cross-chop. The afternoon on the 18th jumps to 6 ft from the ESE, period 7 seconds, and energy jumps to 247 (moderate). But the wind switches to a direct onshore from the SSE at 9 mph, and the conditions are listed as unknown – that’s a red flag. The swell is over 5 ft, which is too much for beginners, and the onshore wind will chop it up. For confident intermediates, it’s the only window with any real push, but don’t expect anything clean.

The 19th of August sees the swell drop back to 3 ft from the ESE and E, period 7 seconds, with moderate cross-shore winds and a cross-chop, plus a risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Energy is still moderate at 107 to 110. The 20th has cleaner offshore winds from the WNW (19-22 mph) but the swell is already fading to 2 ft to 2 ft. The last few days of the outlook are back to tiny, weak, and forgettable.

If I had to pick the best of the lot, it’s the morning of Tuesday 18 August. That 5 ft SE swell with cross-shore wind is the closest we get to a surfable wave, but it’s far from a standout. The crowd profile says the South Jetty can get busy sometimes, and with this being the only real swell in the whole 16 days, it’ll likely be packed. The water temperature anomaly is not provided, so we’ll skip that.

Honestly, for paddle surfing, it’s a grim run. The setup on the 18th, with that 6 ft onshore mess, might actually be more interesting for the kite crowd than us. Keep your eyes on the long-range forecasts, because it tends not to stay this flat forever.

Rusty.

Short Range Forecast

Light rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Fri night. Warm (max 33°C on Sun afternoon, min 22°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light.

Days 5-7 Weather Summary

Light rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Tue night. Warm (max 32°C on Tue afternoon, min 22°C on Tue night). Wind will be generally light.

Friday
7
Saturday
8
Sunday
9
Monday
10
Tuesday
11
Wednesday
12
Night
AM
PM
Night
AM
PM
Night
AM
PM
Night
AM
PM
Night
AM
PM
Night
AM
PM
Night
Rating
(10 max)
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
Swell
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Height Map
Wave
Height (m)
Direction
Period (s)
0.9
S
5
0.8
S
6
0.7
S
5
1
S
5
0.7
S
6
0.7
S
6
1
S
6
0.8
S
7
0.6
S
6
0.5
S
6
0.5
S
6
0.5
S
6
0.8
S
5
0.6
S
5
0.7
S
6
1.1
SSW
5
0.5
S
6
0.5
S
6
0.8
S
4
Wave Graph
Metric surfscale
Energy kJ
45
40
28
57
33
35
76
56
30
18
18
17
27
20
33
62
15
19
24
Wind (km/h)
15
SW
15
SW
25
SSW
15
WSW
15
SW
20
SW
20
WSW
15
WSW
20
WSW
10
SW
10
S
15
SW
15
SW
15
W
15
WSW
5
NNE
10
WSW
15
SW
15
SW
Wind State
cross
cross
cross-on
cross-off
cross
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
cross-on
cross
cross
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
cross-off
cross
cross
High Tide
2:57AM1.02m
3:41PM1.38m
4:19AM1.00m
4:55PM1.44m
5:30AM1.05m
5:58PM1.51m
6:31AM1.11m
6:56PM1.57m
7:30AM1.19m
7:53PM1.60m
8:26AM1.28m
8:45PM1.61m
Low Tide
9:00PM0.29m
8:50AM0.16m
10:16PM0.26m
10:01AM0.16m
11:25PM0.18m
11:10AM0.10m
00:25AM0.09m
12:13PM0.04m
1:22AM0.00m
1:13PM-0.03m
2:13AM-0.07m
2:09PM-0.07m
2:59AM-0.12m
clear
part cloud
clear
rain showers
clear
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
thunderstorm
part cloud
clear
part cloud
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunrise">Sunrise</span>
6:01
6:03
6:03
6:05
6:05
6:07
<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.weather_tables.sunset">Sunset</span>
8:04
8:02
8:01
8:00
8:00
7:58
7:57
 mm
2
5
Temp °C
28
29
31
28
26
31
30
27
33
31
29
31
31
29
32
30
25
29
27
Feels °C
29
30
31
28
27
31
31
28
32
31
30
31
32
30
33
32
27
29
28
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
Map placeholder
How to use the Wavefinder 
submit an eyeball surf report

Quick surf report for The South Jetty:

join our community of surf reporters

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 The South Jetty 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 The South Jetty Surf forecast

The above surf forecast table for The South Jetty provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at The South Jetty can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our The South Jetty 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 (The South Jetty) 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 The South Jetty 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.

The South Jetty is 4 km (2 miles) from Atlantic City. If you plan a vacation in New Jersey, look for hotels and other accommodation in Atlantic City. Atlantic City has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.

Nearest locationNearest