Nauset Beach surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 6pm
2 ft · sets to 3
Poor-FairNo window today · next Thu morning to afternoon
The swell and the tide hold it back.
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 6pm readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell2.1 ft · 5 s · NEMakes the wave: 79% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.9 ft · 5 s · ESecondary: 14% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- 0.6 ft · 8 s · ESESecondary: 6% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 9° from ESE in deep water.
- Wind8 mph from the ENEOnshore to a shoreline facing 67°Moderate
- Tide2.1 ft, risingNext high 2.2 ft at 6:22pm · NAVD88, NOAA 8447435 observed
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 4 ft of water
- Energy13 kJHeight² × period²Marginal
- Water59° · air 53° · UV 0
High confidence.
Best windowNone today · next Thu morning to afternoon
No usable window. Onshore wind all day; lightest 3–4pm.
Against what Nauset Beach likesWhy it is Poor-Fair, not Fair
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 6pmGood Harbor Beach, Ruggles Avenue and 3 more
The break
The seafloorShifting outer-bar sand
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomshifting outer-bar sand
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2021), 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 this3 swells at once, the seafloor is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 6pm). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
3 swells at once
2.1 ft at 5s from the NE carrying 79% of the energy, plus 0.9 ft at 5s from the E (14%), plus 0.6 ft at 8s from the ESE (6%).
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 is neutral here
Kr 0.89 · 78% of modelled rays break.
Energy arrives roughly as it left deep water: this bottom neither concentrates the swell nor fans it out, so what the buoy sees is close to what you get. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
Where it trips
2.1 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 4 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 onshore
8 mph from the ENE, against a shoreline facing 67°.
Pushing into the back of the wave from the sea, making it crumble and break early instead of standing up. Note this is measured against the angle THIS break faces, which is why one spot can be blown out while the one round the headland is fine.
How Nauset Beach worksThe Outer Cape faces the whole North Atlantic with no shelf to…
The Outer Cape faces the whole North Atlantic with no shelf to slow it down, so Nauset gets more raw swell than anywhere else in New England and turns it into steep, fast, shifting peaks. Bars move constantly; the wave you found last week is somewhere else now.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellE–NE groundswell, hurricane season
- Suitsadvanced
3 swell trains in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Nauset Beach
- What is the best tide for Nauset Beach?
- Nauset Beach works best on low to mid 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 Nauset Beach?
- E–NE groundswell, hurricane season suits Nauset Beach 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 Nauset Beach good for beginners?
- Nauset Beach suits advanced surfers, over shifting outer-bar sand. 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 Nauset Beach?
- shifting outer-bar sand. 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 Nauset Beach on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.