Long Island Surf Forecast
Surf forecast for Long Island, New York — south-shore beaches from Long Beach east through Montauk.
Long Island's south shore faces nearly due south, which makes it dramatically different from the rest of the East Coast. The dominant swell sources still come from the north and east — hurricanes and nor'easters — but they have to wrap onto a south-facing beach, with significant refraction loss along the way. Long Island consequently sees smaller surf than the same systems produce on the Jersey Shore or Outer Banks.
The trade-off: when something does wrap onto Long Island, it's typically very clean. Long-period ground swells refract into the south-facing geometry and produce lined-up, organized waves. Short-period wind swells barely make it.
Best season runs late summer through fall — hurricane swells with clean offshore wind. Winter nor'easters are big but often stormy. Montauk on the east end picks up more direct east swells than the rest of the south shore due to its more easterly orientation.
Water temps mirror the Jersey shore — low 40s °F February, high 70s August. Watch for strong rip currents at the inlets (Jones, Fire Island).