Charleston Surf Forecast and Surf Reports
(West Coast South Island, New Zealand)
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Charleston Spot ID
Type: beach/River Bar
Reliability: fairly consistent
Best: Swell WSW | Wind ESE
Sea Temperature Today is: 15.8 °C
Wed | Thursday 26 | |||
9PM | 0AM | 3AM | 6AM | |
Wave (m) |
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Period (s) | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
Wind (km/h) | ![]() |
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Wind State | cross- off |
off | glass | off |
View detailed 48hrs and full 7 days forecasts
Charleston on the West Coast is a reasonably exposed beach/River Bar break that has fairly consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. The best wind direction is from the east southeast. Windswells and groundswells in equal measure and the ideal swell angle is from the west southwest. The beach breaks are all lefts. Good surf at all stages of the tide. Unlikely to be too crowded, even when the surf is up. Take care of the strong rips here.
Tide Times:
At Charleston (0 km).
NEXT | IS AT (local time) | remaining |
---|---|---|
high tide | ||
low tide |
Charleston Tide Times and Tide Chart
Live Weather:
At Carters Beach, 19 km from Charleston.
light winds from the SSW![]() km/h | ![]() Dry | Air temperature 5.9 °C |
Overall Charleston Surf Consistency and Wind Distribution in April



The graph illustrates the combination of swells directed at Charleston over a normal Ap... (show all text)

The rose diagram describes how often and how strongly the wind blows from different dir... (show all text)
The two graphs above are also combined in the single Charleston surf consistency graph.
Also see Charleston surf quality by season and Charleston surf quality by month.
Contours: | Roads & Rivers: | Select a surf spot from the menu |



Use this relief map to navigate to West Coast South Island surf spots and tide stations that are in the area of Charleston
Other Nearby Surf Breaks closest to Charleston:
(click location name for more details)- Closest break9 mi
- Second closest break9 mi
- Third closest break9 mi
- Fourth closest break11 mi
- Fifth closest break14 mi
Wave buoys nearest to Charleston:
- Closest wave buoy2196 mi
- Second closest wave buoy3386 mi
- Third closest wave buoy4184 mi
- Fourth closest wave buoy4204 mi
- Fifth closest wave buoy4533 mi
Tide stations nearest to Charleston:
- Closest tide station13 mi
- Second closest tide station39 mi
- Third closest tide station62 mi
- Fourth closest tide station97 mi
- Fifth closest tide station98 mi

Ski Resorts closest to Charleston:
- Closest ski area71 mi
- Second closest ski area73 mi
- Third closest ski area82 mi
- Fourth closest ski area85 mi
- Fifth closest ski area86 mi

Town and city forecasts close to Charleston:
- Closest city location104 mi
- Second closest city location130 mi
- Third closest city location132 mi
- Fourth closest city location173 mi
- Fifth closest city location178 mi
Airports
- The closest passenger airport to Charleston is Westport Airport (WSZ) in New Zealand, 21 km (13 miles) away (directly).
- The second nearest airport to Charleston is Hokitika Airport (HKK), also in New Zealand, 98 km (61 miles) away.
- Third is Nelson Airport (NSN) in New Zealand, 163 km (101 miles) away.
- Christchurch International Airport (CHC) in New Zealand is 198 km (123 miles) away.
- Woodbourne Airport (BHE), also in New Zealand is the fifth nearest airport to Charleston and is 206 km (128 miles) away.
This is the Surf-Forecast page for Charleston, West Coast South Island. Use the tab navigation above to view Charleston sea temperature, Charleston photographs, Charleston detailed swell predictions, wind and weather forecasts, Charleston webcams, current wind from West Coast South Island live weather stations and Charleston tide predictions. The New Zealand swell maps link will open up the big picture showing New Zealand and the surrounding seas. These swell maps can be animated to show the different swell components, wave energy, wave period, wave heights, together with wind and weather forecasts, current weather and sea state observations from New Zealand wave-buoys, passing ships and coastal weather stations. Each of the forecast pages for this surf break feature a global and regional wavefinder tool to locate the best surf conditions in the area around Charleston.