Surf spot guide · NYC Tri-State, United States
Famous north-side Manasquan Inlet jetty serving up long, hollow, board-snapping rights when a S/SE swell lights it up.
Manasquan is the north-side jetty break of Manasquan Inlet, where deep water funnels swell onto well-shaped sandbars stacked against a tall, beefy stone jetty. The setup produces fast, hollow, barreling rights that wrap and bowl off the rocks, with the occasional left and shorter peaks firing off the smaller jetties further up the beach. It holds whatever the Atlantic throws at it, rarely closing out, and the wave length stretches into the 100 to 200m bracket on solid days. The break fires on S to SE swells with a westerly offshore, working through low to mid tide and tucking close to the beach when the swell is smaller, where the jetty offers shelter from southerly winds. Widely regarded as the best wave in New Jersey, it has a long history of producing photo-worthy barrels and feeding the local Joisey surf scene. Free roadside parking exists in winter, but summer means meters and beach tags, and the wave still pulls travellers from up and down the East Coast.
Deep water funnels Atlantic swell onto sandbars stacked against the jetty's stone.
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Heavily crowded year-round with a confident, sometimes prickly local pack holding the prime peak by the jetty. Numbers only thin once it gets big enough to scare off the casual crew.
Gritty Jersey jetty barrel
NYC Tri-State
Powerful, jetty-wedged left on the south side of Manasquan Inlet that needs NE or E swell and lower tides to fire.
NYC Tri-State
Sand-bottom Jersey jetty break that fires fast, hollow rights on solid southerly swells and a westerly offshore.
NYC Tri-State
Shifty, hollow peak on the south side of Shark River Inlet, wedged between a stone jetty and the battered fishing pier.
+6 MORE →Time sessions around low to mid tide on a S or SE swell with a westerly offshore for the best shape
Tuck in close to the jetty when the swell is small and a southerly is blowing, the rocks block the wind
Paddle out using the rip beside the jetty rather than punching through the bars
Plan around summer parking meters and beach tags, winter is free roadside
Sit deeper than you think on bigger days, the bowl off the rocks is the prime takeoff
HAZARDS · KNOW BEFORE YOU PADDLE
Walk-on access from the Manasquan beachfront with car park, free roadside and metered parking in summer. Lifeguard and restrooms on the beach. Paddle out alongside the jetty using the rip, mindful of fishing lines and lures off the rocks.
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