What is the best tide for S-Turns?

S-Turns 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 S-Turns?

NE–E groundswell suits S-Turns 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 S-Turns good for beginners?

S-Turns suits advanced surfers, over sand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm. 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 S-Turns?

sand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm. 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 S-Turns on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.

S-Turns surf report and forecast

BeachbreakRodanthe, NCForecast 3:46am

Forecast for the selected hour

Now · 5am

11–14 ft · sets to 18

Fair-GoodBest today All day (7am–7pm)

Wind is the limiting factor.

3-hourlyGlobal model6-hourly

Hour by hour · TodaySunrise 7:11 · tap an hour

SurfftWindmphTideftSwells · from

Best

sunrise 7:11sunset 6:22

Model, not a camera ·Today 5am EDT

Open on the map

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

Swell13.0 ft · 10 s · NEMakes the wave: 100% of the energy. Direction at the break.
Wind37 mph from the NNECross-shore to a shoreline facing 80°Gale
Tide-0.7 ft, fallingNext low -1.1 ft at 6:57am · NAVD88, NOAA 8654400 predicted (no live sensor)
BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 16 ft of water
Energy1385 kJHeight² × period²Heavy
Water70° · air 62° · UV 0

High confidence.

Best windowAll day (7am–7pm)

Against what S-Turns 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 5amJennette's Pier, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and 3 more

Compare on the map

The break

The seafloorSand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm

Loading the seafloor under S-Turns…

Open the seafloor on the map

Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.

Bottomsand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm
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 spreads it, where it trips

Read from the current hour (today at 5am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.

One swell, uncrossed
13.0 ft at 10s from the NE 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 spreads it
Kr 0.84 · 92% 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
-0.7 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
37 mph from the NNE, against a shoreline facing 80°.
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 S-Turns worksThe stretch of Hatteras Island where the highway keeps being…

The stretch of Hatteras Island where the highway keeps being washed into the sea. The road rubble and the constantly rebuilt dune line make banks that no engineer intended and that produce the hollowest beach break on the Outer Banks. It is fickle, it moves, and when it lines up it is as good as East Coast sand gets.

Best tidemid to low
Best swellNE–E groundswell
Suitsadvanced

1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated

Common questions4 questions about S-Turns

What is the best tide for S-Turns?: S-Turns 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 S-Turns?: NE–E groundswell suits S-Turns 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 S-Turns good for beginners?: S-Turns suits advanced surfers, over sand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm. 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 S-Turns?: sand over the remains of an old road bed and rubble, banks reset every storm. 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 S-Turns on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.