Jennette's Pier surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 11am
13–16 ft · sets to 21
FairBest today All day (11am–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 11am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell13.2 ft · 12 s · ENEMakes the wave: 100% of the energy. Direction at the break.
- Wind32 mph from the NNECross-shore to a shoreline facing 68°Gale
- Tide-0.1 ft, risingNext high 1.2 ft at 2:30pm · NAVD88, NOAA 8651370 observed
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 16 ft of water
- Energy2127 kJHeight² × period²Heavy
- Water69° · air 64° · UV 1
High confidence.
Best windowAll day (11am–7pm)
Against what Jennette's Pier likesWhy it is Fair, not Fair-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 11amS-Turns, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand bars around the pier pilings
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand bars around the pier pilings
- 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 thisOne swell, uncrossed, the seafloor is neutral here, where it trips
Read from the current hour (today at 11am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
13.2 ft at 12s from the ENE and nothing significant crossing it.
A single train is the cleanest case there is: the sets arrive from one angle, so the peak should sit in the same place each time instead of wandering. Why period matters more than height
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 0.99 · 92% 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
-0.1 ft of tide; waves are breaking in about 16 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
32 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 68°.
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 Jennette's Pier worksThe pier traps sand into defined bars on both sides, which on…
The pier traps sand into defined bars on both sides, which on the Outer Banks — where everything else shifts weekly — makes Jennette's one of the more dependable places to find shape. Nags Head has the exposure; the pier gives it structure.
- Best tidelow to mid
- Best swellE–NE swell; hurricane season is the peak
- Suitsintermediate
1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Jennette's Pier
- What is the best tide for Jennette's Pier?
- Jennette's Pier 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 Jennette's Pier?
- E–NE swell; hurricane season is the peak suits Jennette's Pier 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 Jennette's Pier good for beginners?
- Jennette's Pier suits intermediate surfers, over sand bars around the pier pilings. 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 Jennette's Pier?
- sand bars around the pier pilings. 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 Jennette's Pier on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.