Indian River Inlet surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 5am
5–6 ft · sets to 8
Fair-GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)
Swell lines up. Wind is the limiting factor.
The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
Loads when it comes into view.The wave field solved for this hour on the real seafloor, playing forward. A model, not a camera.
This hour
The 5am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell5.2 ft · 8 s · ENEMakes the wave: 79% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 2.7 ft · 9 s · ESecondary: 21% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind21 mph from the NNECross-shore to a shoreline facing 102°Strong
- Tide-0.3 ft, fallingNext low -1.3 ft at 8:16am · NAVD88, NOAA 8570280 predicted (no live sensor)
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 10 ft of water
- Energy181 kJHeight² × period²Moderate
- Water69° · air 55° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)
Against what Indian River Inlet likesWhy it is Fair-Good, not Good
Preferred tide and swell are surfer-consensus notes for this spot, not yet reviewed against measurements. Wind is judged by the general rule (light or offshore helps). No percent match: these are plain states and reasons.
Nearby at 5amOcean City, Ship Bottom and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand piled against the inlet's north jetty
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand piled against the inlet's north jetty
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2019), relative to NAVD88. Depth shown is below the selected hour’s tide.
- CoverageRock reef and headland shapes resolve well. Nearshore sandbars are interpolated flat in this dataset, so a beachbreak’s bar is not in the picture. A tile’s year is its publication, not the survey date.
Why it breaks like thisTwo swells at once, the seafloor spreads it, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 5am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
Two swells at once
5.2 ft at 8s from the ENE carrying 79% of the energy, plus 2.7 ft at 9s from the E (21%).
The shorter, steeper train is carrying most of the energy here, so expect a choppier, less organised lineup than the longest period in the list would suggest on its own. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor spreads it
Kr 0.76 · 82% of modelled rays break.
Energy is fanning outwards over the bottom here, so the wave arrives smaller than the open-ocean swell height suggests. Nothing is wrong with the forecast. The seafloor took the difference. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
-0.3 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 10 ft of water.
A wave breaks when the water gets shallow enough relative to its height, so that depth is a contour on the seafloor, and the tide slides the whole break up and down it through the day. Same swell, different spot, a few hours apart. How the tide moves the break
Wind is cross-shore
21 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 102°.
Running across the face rather than into or against it. Less destructive than a straight onshore, but it puts a texture on the wall and can make the peak harder to read.
How Indian River Inlet worksDelaware's coast is a straight, shallow sand beach with one…
Delaware's coast is a straight, shallow sand beach with one feature on it: the Indian River Inlet jetties. Sand stacks against the north jetty into a bar that throws a proper right on a northeast swell, and the state park protects it from development. The inlet current is the price of admission.
- Best tidemid to low
- Best swellNE–E swell
- Suitsadvanced
2 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Indian River Inlet
- What is the best tide for Indian River Inlet?
- Indian River Inlet works best on mid to low tide. Tide matters because depth is what trips a wave: as the water fills in, the break slides shoreward onto a different part of the bottom, and over a shallow bank enough water stops it breaking at all. Our forecast solves each hour at that hour's real water level rather than assuming one.
- What swell direction is best for Indian River Inlet?
- NE–E swell suits Indian River Inlet best. The direction that matters is the one at the break, not the one on the buoy: the seafloor bends swell on its way in, so a spot can work on an angle the open coast is missing. We model that bending for each break rather than reporting the offshore direction.
- Is Indian River Inlet good for beginners?
- Indian River Inlet suits advanced surfers, over sand piled against the inlet's north jetty. That is the wave this bottom makes on an average day, and it moves: the same break is a different proposition on a bigger swell or a different tide, so read the day's forecast rather than the label.
- What is the bottom like at Indian River Inlet?
- sand piled against the inlet's north jetty. It is the reason this break behaves the way it does: the shape of the seabed decides where the swell focuses, where it trips, and whether it spills or pitches. We model Indian River Inlet on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.