Surf Forecasts:
Cobden Breakwater surf forecast from 10 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Wednesday 15 Jul, 6AM (local time) - 11ft (3.5m), 15s period, W swell with cross-shore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Wednesday 15 Jul, 6AM (local time) - 11ft (3.5m), 15s period, W swell with 5,171 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Saturday 11 Jul, 9AM (local time) - 4ft (1.2m), 16s period with WSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Cobden Breakwater this week:
The surf forecast for Cobden Breakwater over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Saturday (Jul 11) at 9AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.2m and 16s period. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Cobden Breakwater in the next 16 days are 3.5m 15s and forecast to arrive on Wednesday (Jul 15) at 6AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.4m 6s period and expected on Monday (Jul 13) at 3PM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 9AM (Sat 11th Jul) | 4ft (1.2m) 16s |
| Best Surf | 6AM (Wed 15th Jul) | 11ft (3.5m) 15s |
| Most Powerful | 6AM (Wed 15th Jul) | 11ft (3.5m) 15s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Cobden Breakwater over the next 16 days.
Alright, Rusty here, let’s break this down for the imperial crew.
We’ve only got one spot firing in this 16-day window, and that’s Cobden Breakwater. It’s a breakwater setup that loves swell from the WSW, and the water temp is about normal for this time of year. Nothing weird going on.
No gap at the start – we’re on from Saturday, July 11th. Saturday morning is looking great with a 4ft swell from the WSW, a super long 16-second period, and a light cross-off breeze. The wave energy is moderate (797). It’s clean. Saturday afternoon gets even better – the wind goes glassy, same 4ft groundswell. That’s a standout.
Sunday the 12th keeps it rolling with 4ft to 4ft swell and light winds. Morning is clean, afternoon is glassy. This spot is fairly consistent, so you can bank on it.
Monday the 13th starts smaller with 2ft, but clean with a gentle offshore wind. The afternoon brings a 7ft short-period swell from the NNW with only 8 seconds between waves. That’s weaker and less shapely. Watch out, 7ft is big for beginners.
Tuesday the 14th: morning has a 6ft WNW swell, afternoon a 7ft WNW. Winds are cross-off, energy is moderate to strong. Good intermediate territory.
Wednesday the 15th – whoa. Morning is a massive 12ft swell from the west with a 15-second period and insane energy (5004). The reports say it’s too big for this break, and I’d agree – experts only, and even then it’s heavy. Afternoon is 10ft but with a cross-on wind making it choppy. That’s a watch-from-the-beach day.
Thursday the 16th gets clean again. Glassy morning with 8ft W swell – excellent for experienced surfers. Afternoon is 7ft and glassy. Another standout.
Friday the 17th: glassy morning at 6ft, good for the experienced crew. Afternoon gets onshore, so that window closes.
The weekend of the 18th is junk. Strong onshore winds (19 mph Saturday morning) and poor conditions. Kite surfers might like it, but I wouldn’t paddle out.
Sunday the 19th bounces back. Morning has 6ft WSW groundswell with a 16-second period and cross-off winds. Clean. Afternoon goes glassy with 5ft. Nice one.
Monday the 20th is smaller – 3ft. Fun for a longboard. Tuesday the 21st picks up to 5ft with cross-off winds. Wednesday the 22nd has 3ft morning and a glassy 6ft afternoon.
Into the second week, and we’ve got some big promise, but it’s further out so less certain. Thursday the 23rd: 10ft WNW swell, light winds, glassy afternoon. Expert territory. Friday the 24th is the big one – 10ft W groundswell with a 15-second period, clean cross-off winds, energy of 3746. This is the standout of the whole run. Long-period groundswell on a breakwater should shape up really well. Experts only.
Saturday the 25th holds at 7ft to 8ft, clean with offshore winds. Sunday the 26th wraps it up with 8ft, clean and cross-off.
Best bets: For the experienced crowd, Saturday July 11th and Thursday July 16th are your clean, manageable days. For the hard chargers, Friday July 24th is the one – that 10ft, 15-second swell with clean wind is top tier. But it’s a long way out, so keep an eye on it.
Cobden Breakwater is fairly consistent, so even when it’s not pumping, it’s usually surfable. And crowds are rare, so you’ll get your pick.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 21mm), heaviest during Mon night. Very mild (max 12°C on Mon night, min 3°C on Sat morning). Winds increasing (calm on Sat afternoon, fresh winds from the NNE by Mon afternoon). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 48mm), heaviest during Wed morning. Very mild (max 14°C on Tue afternoon, min 8°C on Thu night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 11 | Sunday 12 | Monday 13 | Tuesday 14 | Wednesday 15 | Thursday 16 | Friday 17 | |||||||||||||||
AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | ||||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 16 | WSW 16 | WSW 16 | WSW 15 | WSW 15 | WSW 14 | WSW 14 | NW 8 | NW 9 | W 10 | W 12 | WNW 16 | W 15 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 13 | W 13 | W 13 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 797 | 768 | 758 | 666 | 551 | 346 | 204 | 344 | 1112 | 527 | 1290 | 4467 | 5072 | 3696 | 2487 | 1793 | 1809 | 1207 | 875 | 787 | 775 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-off | glassy | cross-off | off | cross-off | off | off | off | cross-on | cross-off | cross-off | cross | cross | on | cross-on | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-off | glassy | glassy |
High Tide | 7:53PM2.99m | 8:22AM3.10m | 8:55PM3.16m | 9:25AM3.23m | 9:53PM3.33m | 10:23AM3.35m | 10:46PM3.47m | 11:16AM3.43m | 11:37PM3.54m | 12:06PM3.44m | 00:25AM3.54m | 12:53PM3.38m | 1:12AM3.45m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 1:35PM0.97m | 2:08AM0.90m | 2:41PM0.88m | 3:10AM0.75m | 3:41PM0.76m | 4:07AM0.60m | 4:35PM0.64m | 5:00AM0.50m | 5:26PM0.57m | 5:51AM0.46m | 6:14PM0.56m | 6:40AM0.50m | 7:00PM0.61m | ||||||||
 | |  |  | | |  |  |  |  | | |  | | | | | | | | | |
 | 8:02 | — | — | 8:02 | — | — | 8:00 | — | — | 8:00 | — | — | 8:00 | — | — | 8:00 | — | — | 7:58 | — | — |
 | — | 5:17 | — | — | 5:19 | — | — | 5:20 | — | — | 5:21 | — | — | 5:21 | — | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:22 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 1 | — | 3 | 2 | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 8 |
Feels °C | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 6 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WSW 16 | WSW 16 | WSW 16 | WSW 15 | WSW 15 | WSW 14 | NW 5 | NW 8 | NW 9 | W 10 | W 12 | WNW 16 | W 15 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 14 | W 13 | W 13 | W 13 |
| kJ | 797 | 768 | 758 | 666 | 551 | 346 | 30 | 344 | 1112 | 527 | 1290 | 4467 | 5072 | 3696 | 2487 | 1793 | 1809 | 1207 | 875 | 787 | 775 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | N 12 | WSW 14 | W 14 | W 13 | NNW 8 | W 18 | — | — | — | — | — | N 7 | N 6 | — | N 6 | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 204 | 100 | 87 | 338 | 162 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 3 | — | 1 | — |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | — | N 11 | — | W 22 | WSW 19 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | 9 | 72 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | ENE 4 | — | — | — | — | — | NNE 4 | NNE 6 | — | — | NNW 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| kJ | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | 135 | — | — | 238 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 0 | 204 | 202 | 136 | 136 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 153 |
Best forecast wave conditions in West Coast South Island | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
- Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)- Wind Speed (km/h)
FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website
The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Cobden Breakwater surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.
Information about the Cobden Breakwater Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Cobden Breakwater provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Cobden Breakwater can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Cobden Breakwater surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Cobden Breakwater) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Cobden Breakwater may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Cobden Breakwater is 172 km (107 miles) from the city of Christchurch. If you plan a holiday in West Coast South Island, look for hotels and other accommodation in Christchurch. Christchurch has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest