Howe Street Jetty / New Jersey / United States

This is a decent spot for all abilities and provides some good sized waves when conditions are right. Surfing is prohibited between 10am – 5pm in summer, though any other time is fair game.

A white sand beach, typical of the area, this isn’t a bad spot to visit. Route 88 will take you into Bay Head itself, and then you pick up Ocean Avenue South until you get to the Howe Street intersection. Turn onto it and drive towards the shore, park up where you find a free space. The beach is right at the end of the street and is less than 5 minutes walk away. The surfing spot is round the jetty you’ll see – you can surf either north or south of it, depending on where the break is best.

The spot works in all sorts of wind and swell directions. The wind can come out of the north, northwest, west, southwest, south or east, and the swell can be from the north, south, southeast, or east. It starts working at less than 1m but will build up to over 3m, a fairly good size for this region. It works at all tide positions and on both rising and falling tides. A jetty break, both right and left, the waves are hollow, fast and fairly powerful here without being too much for those with less experience. An average length is about 100m, and a good day will give over 250m. It is a quiet spot during the week but can be crowded at weekends.

Bay Head is a fairly affluent community and has a reasonable infrastructure. There is a surf shop near How Street and places to eat and stay within easy reach.

There are some currents to watch out for here, and be careful not to hit the rock jetty.