Reef Road surf report and forecast
Forecast for the selected hour
Now · 9am
9–11 ft · sets to 14
FairBest available today 3–7pm
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 9am readingSwell, wind, tide, breaker, energy, water
- Swell9.1 ft · 12 s · NEMakes the wave: 100% of the energy. Direction at the break. Bent 15° from NNE in deep water.
- Wind25 mph from the NEOnshore to a shoreline facing 82°Gale
- Tide0.0 ft, slackNo turn in the table · NAVD88, tide fetch failed (HTTP 403 (https://api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/api/prod/datagetter?product=predictions&station=8722670&begin_date=20261019&end_date=20261019&datum=MLLW&units=metric&time_zone=lst_ldt&format=json&application=surf-viz)) → 0
- BreakerSpillingBreaks in about 16 ft of water
- Energy1059 kJHeight² × period²Heavy
- Water85° · air 80° · UV 1
High confidence.
Best window3–7pm
No strong window today. Best available: 3–7pm, fair.
Against what Reef Road 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 9amSouth Beach, South Jetty and 3 more
The break
The seafloorSand over a limestone reef
Shallow is light, deep is dark; contours every few feet; the relief is exaggerated.
- Bottomsand over a limestone reef
- DepthCUDEM 1/9 arc-second (2018), 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, it bends on the way in, the seafloor is neutral here
Read from the current hour (today at 9am). Each number, and what it does to the wave.
One swell, uncrossed
9.1 ft at 12s 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
It bends on the way in
That swell leaves deep water heading 32° and reaches the break at 47°, bent 15° on the way.
Shallow water slows a wave, so the end of the crest that reaches the shallows first swings around. That is refraction. It's why this spot can be working on a swell direction the open coast is missing, and why the swell angle on a buoy is never the angle at your break. Why two breaks a mile apart differ
The seafloor is neutral here
Kr 0.97 · 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.
Where it trips
0.0 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 onshore
25 mph from the NE, against a shoreline facing 82°.
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 Reef Road worksA limestone reef off Palm Beach that stays dormant almost all…
A limestone reef off Palm Beach that stays dormant almost all year and then, on the handful of days a strong northeast groundswell lines up, produces the heaviest, hollowest wave in Florida. The Bahamas shadow blocks most east and southeast swell, so the window is narrow — which is why it has a mythology and a fiercely protective crew.
- Best tidemid to low
- Best swellNE groundswell, long period
- Suitsexpert
1 swell train in the current hour · How this is calculated
Common questions4 questions about Reef Road
- What is the best tide for Reef Road?
- Reef Road 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 Reef Road?
- NE groundswell, long period suits Reef Road 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 Reef Road good for beginners?
- Reef Road suits expert surfers, over sand over a limestone reef. 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 Reef Road?
- sand over a limestone reef. 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 Reef Road on real 10-foot bathymetry instead of treating the seafloor as a slope.