United States · North America
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Rockaway Beach is New York City's only surf beach, a stretch of sand on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. It faces south into the Atlantic and produces rideable waves from hurricane swells, nor'easters, and tropical systems. The NYC skyline behind and the urban grit make it a unique surf experience. The local community is passionate and growing.
Best during hurricane season (August-November) and winter nor'easters. South and south-east swells from tropical systems produce the best waves. A north-westerly wind is offshore. Works on all tides. The 2-5ft range is most common. Clean overhead days are exceptional events.
The main surf zones are between 67th and 90th Streets. Beach breaks with shifting peaks along the jetties. The jetties create some structure in the sand. Each section works slightly differently depending on swell direction.
Cold water (wetsuits needed October-May). Rip currents near the jetties. Swimmers in the designated swimming areas. Water quality after heavy rain. The jetty structures themselves are a hazard in strong currents.
Subway (A train) to Rockaway stations. Street parking (limited). The beach is accessible by public transport, which is unusual for a surf spot. Full urban facilities.
Busy when it works. NYC's large surfing community converges on rare good days. 30-50 people on solid swells. The limited swell windows mean competition is real. Dawn patrol is essential on good days.
Rockaway rewards the patient NYC surfer. Good days are rare but when they arrive, the stoke is immense. The taco trucks on the boardwalk are excellent. The A-train commute makes it accessible from Manhattan (60 minutes). Join the local forecast groups to catch short-lived swells. Winter nor'easters can produce surprisingly good waves.
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Based on historical weekly averages
Combining historical conditions with school holiday crowd pressure to find the sweet spot.
How busy each week is based on school holiday overlap from feeder markets.
The timing score combines two signals: historical conditions quality (how good the skiing or surfing typically is in a given week, based on 5 years of weather data) and crowd pressure (how many of this destination's feeder markets have school holidays that week).
Crowd pressure is weighted by each feeder country's share of visitors. If 40% of a resort's visitors come from France and France is on holiday, that contributes 0.40 to the crowd pressure score. Crowds can reduce the timing score by up to 35%, ensuring conditions still matter most.
Scores: 5 = great conditions with low crowds (the sweet spot). 4 = great conditions with moderate crowds, or good conditions with low crowds. 3 = average. 2 = below average conditions or very crowded. 1 = poor conditions or peak holiday chaos.
Last 29 days of logged conditions.
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Create Profile →Current conditions refresh every 3 hours when the cron runs. Hourly data updates every 30 minutes. The 7-day forecast, luck factor, and packing notes are all pre-computed at the same time.
We compare the 7-day forecast to the last 5 years of marine data for the same week at Rockaway Beach. The delta tells you whether conditions are shaping up better, worse, or about the same as a typical mid-June.
We score each day of the 7-day forecast using the same algorithm as the leaderboard, and highlight the highest scorer.
Open-Meteo's Marine API (swell height, period, water temperature) and Weather API (wind and conditions).
Honestly, no. Every break has tide windows, swell directions and reef contours that a global model cannot see. Treat the score as a starting point, then check a local cam.
The best week for surf at Rockaway Beach is the week of 30 November (score 3/5) with low crowds.
Next to nothing in the water. Check back tomorrow. Short-period chop. The waves lack any real push. Strong onshore blowing everything out. Give it a miss. Best conditions early morning before the sea breeze arrives. Not enough swell to get this spot firing properly.
Looking clean - lifeguarded, sandy bottom.
Moderate water clarity: ~4m visibility
Daily scores over the last 12 months at Rockaway Beach