The biggest NJ waves ever? Surfers tell the tale at 'Swell of the Century' photo show

LONG BRANCH - Were the waves that hit the Jersey Shore on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, the biggest ever ridden by surfers here?

Surfers and photographers who were at the beach that day are calling it "the swell of the century." Some call it "Monstrous Monday." Anecdotally, witnesses say the waves were as tall as the pier at Ocean Grove. But, there is also real science to back up the claim.

"In the surf community we knew that there was a swell coming. We just didn't know if it was going to come together. You hear it was going to be 15 to 20 feet, but you don't know if it's going to be ridable" said Shawn Christian Zappo, a professional photographer and surfer who lives in Ocean Grove.

It was a foggy morning. Zappo couldn't see the waves but he could hear them. In fact, he heard the sound of the surf pounding the sand from three blocks in where lives. He was invited to the 11th floor of a condo building in Asbury Park to take photos. From that perspective he captured one of the memorable images of the swell as it roared onto the beach in front of the Empress Hotel, sending sea mist high into the air.

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To relive the moment, Zappo has organized an art show to be hosted by The White Chapel Projects in Long Branch the evening of March 28. Lots of photographers will be showing their prints, including Matthew Lang, who captured perhaps the most iconic moment of the day, surfer Brendan Tighe as he fell two stories from the top of wave at Bay Head.

"That was just about being at the right place at the right time," Lang, who lives in Wall, said about getting the picture. He shot about 200 that day.

Lang said he took his camera to the beach in Bay Head around noon, after the wind changed to an offshore direction out of the west and cleaned up the waves. There were only a few surfers who were daring to ride them, he said.

"The guys that were out were the best surfers we have in New Jersey. If you see them having trouble catching waves, you know it's big," Lang said,

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Surfers had been watching wave forecasts from the National Weather Service or websites like Surfline for several days, as a low pressure system developed in the Gulf of Mexico on Dec. 16, crossed the Florida Panhandle and then battered the East Coast with torrential downpours, coastal flooding and hurricane-strength wind gusts.

Wave heights as high as 20 feet were recorded in New Jersey. Kurt Korte, vice president of forecasting for Surfline, said he's forecasted every major swell for the Mid-Atlantic over the past 20 years, and this storm was history in the making. Then Surfline's forecast team dug through the records.

Using wave data collected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Delaware Bay buoy 44009, Korte said in a blog post for Surfline, that there were only a handful of days that registered a significant wave height exceeding 20 feet. The buoy records go back to the 1980s.

"There was only one swell bigger than (Dec. 18’s) combined peak of 6.3 meters (20 feet) at 15 seconds: January 1992,” Korte said.

So while Dec. 18, 2023, may not have packed the biggest waves ever, it ranks amongst the giant days at the Shore.

Over the falls

Few know the power of Dec. 18's swell as well as Tighe, whose image falling off a wave at Bay Head quickly circulated around the web and became the the photo featured on the upcoming show's flyer. He said his phone did not stop ringing in the days after from friends who wanted to know if he was all right, to surfing publications wanting the scoop. He assured people he was fine, but he really was in some pain.

Most of the waves that day were not ridable as they were closeouts, he said, meaning they were just a wall of water breaking straight down. He had patiently waited for one that was ridable. But as he was paddling for it, the wave grew, drawing in more water, rising, turning black. When he stood up, 40 mph winds blew offshore into his face, blinding him and pushing him off his board.

"It was really hard to see. When I stood up, all my momentum was being pushed backwards and I realized I had no other choice but to jump," said Tighe, a Point Pleasant resident.

Tighe plummeted about 20 feet. The lip of the wave landed on him. His leash ripped off and his board snapped in half. He tumbled under the water. When he surfaced he had been washed down the beach. He said he felt whiplash and might have even had a concussion. One thing is for sure: It took eight trips to the chiropractor to correct his neck.

"I can happily say that was the swell of my lifetime. I've been surfing hurricane swells since I was 12 or 10. In my 25 years of surfing that definitely was the biggest wave I've seen in New Jersey," said Tighe, 33, who has surfed waves in California, Hawaii, Indonesia, Mexico and Central and South America.

'The Swell of the Century' art show

It runs from 7 to 9 p.m., March 28, at the White Chapel Projects, 15 Second Ave., Long Branch. Admission is free.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Biggest NJ waves seen in Long Branch 'Swell of the Century' art show