Rockaway Beach Swell Window
New York, USA · part of the Rockaway Beach spot guide
- Swell window (from)
- 120°–240° (ESE–WSW)
- Best direction
- ~165° (SSE)
- Period sweet spot
- 9–15 s
- Open-ocean height (Hs)
- 1–12 ft
- Resulting faces
- 1–8 ft
Open-ocean vs. the face: the heights on buoys and forecast models are significant wave height (Hs) in deep water. What you ride is the breaking face, which depends on period, direction and this break's bathymetry — that's why the two rows above differ. PierMonkey's spot ratings already do this conversion for you.
The useful energy funnels from the south-southeast through south, with the money direction a south-to-southeast long-period groundswell that refracts cleanly around Long Island. Longer period means more refraction and more size on the beach, so the sweet spot is roughly 9-to-15 seconds; short-period windswell is weak and disorganised here.
Because refraction around Long Island bleeds energy, a given buoy height typically produces a smaller face at Rockaway than at exposed open-ocean spots, with long period partly compensating — read the buoy height and the face as separate numbers.