Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The live map, wave-energy layers, storm tracker, tide charts, every buoy page — live readings, history, spectra and station forecasts — and a 5-day forecast for every surf spot are open to everyone with no account. A free account adds the full 16-day per-spot forecasts and custom email alerts. There is no paid tier.

All primary sources: NOAA NDBC buoys for live observations, the NOAA GFS-Wave model for 16-day wave forecasts, NOAA CO-OPS for tide predictions, and the National Hurricane Center and Joint Typhoon Warning Center for tropical storms.

The first 3–5 days are usually solid; days 6–10 show the trend; beyond that treat it as a heads-up, not a promise. That is why PierMonkey shows model forecasts next to live buoy readings — the buoy tells you what actually arrived.

The average height of the largest one-third of waves — the standard way buoys and models report sea state. Individual set waves can run noticeably bigger.

The seconds between wave crests. Long periods (12s+) mean organized, powerful groundswell that breaks better; short periods (under 8s) mean local wind chop. Same height, completely different surf.

A wave-energy view that weights wave height by period, so long-period swell glows brighter than equal-height wind slop. It answers "where is the real energy?" rather than "where is the ocean bumpy?"

The sea is usually several wave trains at once — a groundswell from a distant storm plus local wind waves. Spectral buoys and models separate these into partitions so you can see each swell individually.

A six-step conditions score (Flat, Poor, Fair, Fair-Good, Good, Epic) computed from swell period, wave size, and wind — with the wind judged offshore/onshore for each break’s orientation. Wind quality gates the top tiers: a blown-out day can’t rate above Fair, and Epic requires chest-high-plus size, 12-second-plus period, AND clean offshore or glassy wind — so purple is genuinely rare. The full methodology and version history are published on the Surf Reports page.

You pick a buoy or surf spot and stack conditions — wave height, period, direction, wind speed and direction, temperature, pressure — and PierMonkey emails you when they all line up, either in live readings or in the forecast up to 7 days ahead. Cooldowns keep your inbox sane.

No. The map and everything on it is public, including every buoy detail page and the first 5 forecast days on every surf spot. An account (free) unlocks the full 16-day spot forecasts and alerts.

A Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis station — NOAA instruments that measure open-ocean water-column height to detect tsunamis. PierMonkey shows their live readings on the same map.

Buoy observations and storm advisories refresh hourly; wave-model forecasts and the wave-energy map refresh with each of NOAA’s four daily model runs; tides are continuous predictions.