Cape May · Cape May County · New Jersey
Cape May Surf Report & Forecast, The Cove, New Jersey
Cape May, The Cove, New Jersey: 1 ft, knee high, at 3 pm EST on Monday, Nov 9, rated Poor. The main swell is 1.6 ft at 11 seconds from the south-southeast, with a 23 mph cross-shore wind from the west-northwest, gusting 31 mph. Water is about 58°F, so a 4/3 or 5/4 wetsuit with a hood is the suggestion; the next high tide is 4.3 ft at 8:15 pm.
1 ft
knee high · occasional 2 ft
- Swell
- 1.6 ft · 11 s · SSE
- Wind
- 23 mph (WNW), gusts 31cross-shore
- Tide
- 0.3 ft risinghigh 4.3 ft at 8:15 pm
- Water
- 58°F4/3–5/4 hooded
- Air
- 59°Ffeels like 41°F
- Sun
- rise 6:36 amset 4:51 pm
Cape May surf today and tomorrow
Best-rated hour today at Cape May: 7 am, Poor, on a rising high tide.
Blue band: surf face height from the low end to set waves; dotted: occasional larger sets. Grey line: tide, in feet on the right scale. Colour strip: the hourly rating. Arrows: wind direction and strength, teal when offshore, orange when onshore.
Best-rated hour tomorrow at Cape May: 6 am, Poor, on a rising mid tide.
Hour by hour as a table, today and tomorrow
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 1 ft | Poor | 16 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 23 | 4.5 ft |
| 7 am | 1–2 ft | Poor | 18 mph cross-shore (W), gusts 26 | 5.3 ft |
| 8 am | 1 ft | Poor | 20 mph cross-shore (W), gusts 29 | 5.5 ft |
| 9 am | 1 ft | Poor | 24 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 34 | 4.9 ft |
| 10 am | 1 ft | Poor | 24 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 34 | 3.8 ft |
| 11 am | 1 ft | Poor | 24 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 33 | 2.5 ft |
| 12 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 23 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 32 | 1.3 ft |
| 1 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 23 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 31 | 0.4 ft |
| 2 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 22 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 30 | 0.1 ft |
| 3 pmnow | 1 ft | Poor | 20 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 29 | 0.3 ft |
| 4 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 19 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 27 | 0.9 ft |
| 5 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 17 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 24 | 1.9 ft |
| Time | Surf | Rating | Wind | Tide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 am | 1 ft | Poor | 10 mph cross-shore (W) | 4.0 ft |
| 7 am | 1 ft | Poor | 10 mph cross-shore (W) | 5.0 ft |
| 8 am | 1 ft | Poor | 10 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 15 | 5.6 ft |
| 9 am | 1 ft | Poor | 9 mph cross-shore (WSW) | 5.6 ft |
| 10 am | 1 ft | Poor | 11 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 16 | 5.0 ft |
| 11 am | 1 ft | Poor | 13 mph cross-shore (SW), gusts 19 | 3.9 ft |
| 12 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 14 mph cross-shore (SW), gusts 20 | 2.7 ft |
| 1 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 14 mph cross-shore (SW), gusts 20 | 1.7 ft |
| 2 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 14 mph cross-shore (SW), gusts 20 | 1.0 ft |
| 3 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 12 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 18 | 0.7 ft |
| 4 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 11 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 16 | 1.0 ft |
| 5 pm | 1 ft | Poor | 10 mph cross-shore (SW) | 1.6 ft |
Cape May waves today: sets, lulls and how they break
At 3 pm, sets at Cape May arrive about every 2 minutes with about 3 waves each, and the waves are mostly barreling and punchy.
- Set waves
- about 1.3 ft faces
- Waves per set
- about 3
- Sets
- every 2 minutes or so, each lasting about 14 s
- Lulls
- about 94 s between breaking waves
- How they break
- Barrelingwhich means the lip pitches out and can throw a barrel
- Shape
- Punchywhich means steep takeoffs and a pitching lip
- Breaking
- 6% of waves stand up and break where surfers sitThe rest roll through.
- Along-shore current
- moderate, about 0.6 mphThis is not a rip current forecast. For rip current risk, see the National Weather Service.
Cape May surf this weekend and the next 10 days
Next 10 days at Cape May: the biggest day is Thursday, Nov 12 at 1–2 ft, and the best-rated day is Thursday, Nov 12 (Poor). This weekend: Saturday, Nov 14, flat (under 1 ft) and Poor; Sunday, Nov 15, flat (under 1 ft) and Poor.
Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24
Days 11–16 for Cape May are in the Current app with a Premium subscription.
Bars: surf face height from the low end to set waves, by day. Colour strip: the day's best rating. Arrows: main swell direction. Shaded: this weekend.
The 10-day forecast as a table, with swell and wind
| Day | Surf | Rating | Main swell | Wind am | Wind pm | Best time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | 1–2 ft | Poor | 1.4 ft · 11 s · SE | 20 mph cross-shore (W), gusts 29 | 22 mph cross-shore (WNW), gusts 30 | 7 am |
| Tue, Nov 10 | 1 ft | Poor | 0.9 ft · 11 s · SE | 10 mph cross-shore (WSW), gusts 15 | 14 mph cross-shore (SW), gusts 20 | 3 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | 0–1 ft | Poor | 0.8 ft · 10 s · SE | 5 mph offshore (NNW) | calm | 7 am |
| Thu, Nov 12 | 1–2 ft | Poor | 1.9 ft · 4 s · ESE | 12 mph cross-shore (E), gusts 17 | calm | 12 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | flat (under 1 ft) | Poor | 0.7 ft · 7 s · SSE | 25 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 34 | 26 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 34 | 6 am |
| Sat, Nov 14 | flat (under 1 ft) | Poor | 0.2 ft · 8 s · E | 25 mph offshore (NW), gusts 33 | 24 mph offshore (NW), gusts 32 | 6 am |
| Sun, Nov 15 | flat (under 1 ft) | Poor | 0.2 ft · 13 s · SE | 24 mph offshore (NW), gusts 34 | 23 mph offshore (NW), gusts 32 | 4 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | flat (under 1 ft) | Poor | — | 18 mph offshore (NNW), gusts 25 | 17 mph offshore (NW), gusts 24 | 7 am |
| Tue, Nov 17 | flat (under 1 ft) | Poor | — | 11 mph offshore (N) | 8 mph offshore (N) | 4 pm |
| Wed, Nov 18 | 0–1 ft | Poor | — | 6 mph offshore (N) | 4 mph offshore (NW) | 10 am |
| Thu, Nov 19 – Tue, Nov 24 | Days 11–16 for Cape May are in the Current app with a Premium subscription. Get the app | |||||
Cape May tide chart and tide times
Tides at Cape May today, Monday, Nov 9: low 0.2 ft at 1:17 am, high 5.5 ft at 7:42 am, low 0.1 ft at 2:09 pm and high 4.3 ft at 8:15 pm. At 3 pm the tide is 0.3 ft and rising.
Cape May tide chart, November 2026
| Day | Tides |
|---|---|
| Mon, Nov 9 | Low 0.2 ft at 1:17 amHigh 5.5 ft at 7:42 amLow 0.1 ft at 2:09 pmHigh 4.3 ft at 8:15 pm |
| Tue, Nov 10 | Low 0.7 ft at 2 amHigh 5.7 ft at 8:30 amLow 0.7 ft at 2:59 pmHigh 4.4 ft at 8:51 pm |
| Wed, Nov 11 | Low 0.7 ft at 2:37 amHigh 5.6 ft at 9:09 amLow 0.9 ft at 3:26 pmHigh 4.7 ft at 9:33 pm |
| Thu, Nov 12 | Low 1.4 ft at 3:08 amHigh 6.2 ft at 9:50 amLow 1.7 ft at 4:12 pmHigh 4.9 ft at 10:10 pm |
| Fri, Nov 13 | Low 1.6 ft at 3:57 amHigh 5.6 ft at 10:27 amLow 1.0 ft at 5:06 pmHigh 4.0 ft at 11:02 pm |
| Sat, Nov 14 | Low 1.2 ft at 4:36 amHigh 4.9 ft at 11:15 amLow 0.9 ft at 5:51 pmHigh 3.5 ft at 11:48 pm |
| Sun, Nov 15 | Low 0.9 ft at 5:29 amHigh 4.3 ft at 12:08 pmLow 0.7 ft at 6:33 pm |
| Mon, Nov 16 | High 3.4 ft at 12:44 amLow 1.0 ft at 6:20 amHigh 4.2 ft at 1 pmLow 0.8 ft at 7:21 pm |
| Tue, Nov 17 | High 3.5 ft at 1:37 amLow 1.0 ft at 7:21 amHigh 4.1 ft at 1:53 pm |
Tide predictions, not observations. Heights in feet above MLLW.
Cape May water temperature
The water temperature at Cape May is about 58°F on Monday, Nov 9. With the air feeling like 41°F and a 23 mph wind, a 4/3 or 5/4 wetsuit with a hood is the suggestion. Over the next week the water stays between 57 and 58°F.
Water temperature is a forecast for the water at this spot, not a buoy reading. The wetsuit suggestion uses Billabong's wetsuit temperature scale, adjusted for air temperature and wind.
Surf spots near Cape May
- Wildwood Crest6.1 mi ENE · 2 ft · Poor
- Stone Harbor12 mi NE · 1–2 ft · Poor
- Avalon17 mi NE · 2 ft · Poor to Fair
- Sea Isle City20 mi NE · 2 ft · Poor to Fair
- Indian River Inlet, Delaware23 mi SSW · 2 ft · Poor
- Indian River Inlet, Delaware23 mi SSW · 2–3 ft · Poor to Fair
Rated right now. The Current app animates the surf itself on a live map of the whole coast. See the app →
About Cape May
Cape May is a jetty in Cape May County, New Jersey, facing south. Also called Cove Beach and Second Avenue Jetty.
Follow Cape May in the Current app
The first 10 days are free, and Premium adds days 11–16.
Forecasts are estimates. Never rely on them for safety. For rip current risk and beach hazards, check the National Weather Service. Forecasts from Current's novel physics simulation. No AI. No black boxes. Ocean and weather data: NOAA (U.S. government data). NOAA does not endorse this site.