South Shore Surf, Swell & Beach Break Command
Real-time ocean groundswell telemetry, wave period physics, offshore wind groomer scores, and break-by-break tide alignment from the Long Beach jetties to Montauk Ditch Plains.
Swell Period & Deepwater Energy Calculator
Swell height is only half the story. A 3 ft wave at 6 seconds is weak, choppy wind mush with no push. But a 3 ft wave at 14 seconds is a high-energy groundswell generated thousands of miles away that doubles in height as it hits shallow sandbars, producing powerful, hollow tubes!
Long Island South Shore Spot Breakdowns
6 Verified Regional SpotsLong Beach Jetties
City of Long Beach (Nassau County)Long Island's most famous jetty beach break. Series of wooden and stone groins trap sandbars, producing wedging A-frame peaks and hollow lefts/rights on clean northerly offshore winds.
Ditch Plains (The End)
Montauk, NY (South Fork)Legendary East Coast point/reef setup. Glacier-deposited cobblestone seabed shapes consistent, peeling left-handers that hold significant size during Atlantic hurricane swells and winter nor'easters.
Robert Moses & Fire Island Inlet
Robert Moses State Park (Field 2 & 5)Exposed barrier island sandbars with powerful plunging shorebreak. Open to full Atlantic swell windows; produces fast, heavy tube sections on low-to-mid tides.
Shinnecock East & West Jetties
Hampton Bays & Southampton, NYMassive boulder jetties funnel deep ocean currents into powerful refracting wedge waves. Heavy drop-ins favored by shortboarders on big easterly swells.
Gilgo Beach & Sore Thumb
Babylon & Fire Island Barrier, NYAccessible via 4x4 beach driving permit or boardwalk. Uncrowded peaks break outside shallow sandbars; works exceptionally well on shifting autumn hurricane swell pulses.
Smith Point Outer Beach
Shirley, NY (Fire Island East End)Raw, remote ocean beach break at the eastern terminal of Fire Island National Seashore. Shifting sandbars create hollow, dumping beach break peaks with strong longshore currents.
Live deepwater swell telemetry is captured continuously from NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) ocean stations: