Surf-Forecast | Punihos Surf Guide

Punihos Surf Guide

Punihos in Taranaki is an exposed reef and point break that has pretty consitent surf and can work at any time of the year. Offshore winds are from the southeast with some shelter here from southwest winds. Windswells and groundswells in equal measure and the ideal swell direction is from the west southwest.There is a left hand point break here. When the surf is up, it can get quite busy in the water.

Punihos Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Reef and point	3	fairly consistent	16.6°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Punihos:

The best conditions reported for surf at Punihos occur when a West-southwest swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Punihos (for consistent clean waves)?

aprilBest Season: autumn

The best time of year for surfing Punihos with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Autumn and most often the month of April. Clean surfable waves are typically found 37% of the time in April while 57% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 6% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

37%

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

57%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Punihos Location Map

Interactive Punihos surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to Punihos is New Plymouth Airport (NPL) in New Zealand, 29 km (18 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Punihos is Wanganui Airport (WAG), also in New Zealand, 134 km (83 miles) away.

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Punihos Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 9 June 2026, 15:04 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 09			Wed
ft, °F	3PM	6PM	9PM	0AM
Wave (m)	WSW	WSW	WSW	WSW
Period (s)	16	16	16	16
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	off	off	off

Tides at Punihos

Current tide and informaton

For Ahu Ahu Road, 1 km from Punihos.

Next High Water: 04:17pm | 2.5m

Next Low Water: 10:28pm | 0.76m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Punihos Sea Temperature

The water temperature (16.6 °C) at Punihos is quite cool. If the sun does come out as forecast, it should feel warm enough to surf in a good sealed spring wetsuit. Some surfers would prefer to wear gloves and boots too. Effective windchill factor of (13.0 °C) will make the air and water feel about the same temperature.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit, neoprene gloves and boots.