Surf Forecasts:
Houghton Bay surf forecast from 19 Aug 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 21 Aug, 6AM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 16s period, S swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Friday 21 Aug, 6AM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 16s period, S swell with 1,120 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Thursday 20 Aug, 3PM (local time) - 5ft (1.6m), 8s period with S swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Houghton Bay this week:
The surf forecast for Houghton Bay over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Thursday (Aug 20) at 3PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.6m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.4m and 17s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Houghton Bay in the next 16 days are 1.5m 16s and forecast to arrive on Friday (Aug 21) at 6AM. Winds are predicted to be offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 2.5m 7s period and expected on Sunday (Aug 23) at 3AM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 3PM (Thu 20th Aug) | 5ft (1.6m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 6AM (Fri 21st Aug) | 5ft (1.5m) 16s |
| Most Powerful | 6AM (Fri 21st Aug) | 5ft (1.5m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Houghton Bay over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, I’m Rusty. Bit of a lean run ahead for Houghton Bay by the looks. We’ve got a couple of windows where it might line up, but you’ll need to pick your moments. The first real chance doesn’t show up until Thursday afternoon, 20 August, after a quiet start. The water’s sitting at 54°, which is about what you’d expect for this time of year – nothing wild there.
For the standout, I’d point you at Friday morning, 21 August. That’s the pick of the bunch. We’re looking at a solid 5 ft swell from the south, with a very long 16-second period – proper groundswell energy, and it’s pulling in decent energy levels. The wind is light cross-off from the north-northwest, which should keep things reasonably clean. This spot is a beach and reef setup, so that long period might make it a little straight out by the beach, but get yourself over the reef and you could find some nice lines. The break can be inconsistent, and it’s sometimes crowded, so don’t expect a party of one. That said, this is a session for experienced surfers – 5 ft is fine for the confident crew.
The window starts to fade after that. Saturday 22 August sees the swell drop to under 3 ft, and while the northwest wind keeps it cross-off, the energy’s weak and conditions are poor. Sunday is even smaller – forget it. Then Monday 24 August offers a small pulse of 2 ft to 3 ft swell from the south-southwest, with a long 14-second period and offshore north-northwest winds – that’s clean, but the size is tiny. Likely a grovel session for the dedicated.
Tuesday 25 August onwards gets messy with strong winds, and from Thursday 27 August we get some offshore winds again on a small swell, but the energy stays low and the confidence is weak. Then from Saturday 29 August through to the end of the outlook, it’s all onshore wind and poor surf – a long stretch of nothing. There’s a spike on 2 September with 8 ft swell from the south, but it’s short-period, onshore, and rated poor – that’s messy and big for the wrong reasons. Not worth it.
So to sum it up: your best bet is Friday morning, 21 August at Houghton Bay. The rest is a waiting game.
Short Range ForecastMostly dry. Very mild (max 13°C on Sat afternoon, min 9°C on Wed night). Winds increasing (calm on Thu afternoon, near gales from the NNW by Fri night). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryMostly dry. Very mild (max 14°C on Sun morning, min 10°C on Sun night). Winds decreasing (near gales from the NNW on Sat night, moderate winds from the NW by Sun night). | ||||||||||||||||||
Thursday 20 | Friday 21 | Saturday 22 | Sunday 23 | Monday 24 | Tuesday 25 | ||||||||||||||
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) | S 13 | S 8 | S 8 | S 12 | S 16 | S 13 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 9 | SSW 7 | SSW 13 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 14 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 1604 | 401 | 363 | 628 | 1079 | 468 | 311 | 191 | 188 | 71 | 30 | 15 | 139 | 799 | 994 | 661 | 431 | 260 | 118 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | on | glassy | glassy | off | off | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | off | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 10:28PM1.60m | 10:50AM1.63m | 11:13PM1.57m | 11:37AM1.61m | 11:56PM1.55m | 12:22PM1.59m | 00:39AM1.51m | 1:05PM1.58m | 1:24AM1.48m | 1:46PM1.56m | 2:09AM1.44m | 2:27PM1.54m | 2:54AM1.42m | ||||||
Low Tide | 4:44AM0.66m | 5:16PM0.66m | 5:28AM0.69m | 6:02PM0.68m | 6:09AM0.71m | 6:44PM0.69m | 6:48AM0.72m | 7:25PM0.70m | 7:27AM0.73m | 8:05PM0.70m | 8:07AM0.73m | 8:46PM0.71m | |||||||
 |  | |  |  | |  | | | | | | | | | |  | |  | |
 | — | 7:05 | — | — | 7:03 | — | — | 7:01 | — | — | 7:00 | — | — | 6:58 | — | — | 6:56 | — | — |
 | — | — | 5:44 | — | — | 5:45 | — | — | 5:45 | — | — | 5:46 | — | — | 5:47 | — | — | 5:49 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 |
Feels °C | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | S 13 | S 8 | S 8 | S 12 | S 16 | S 13 | S 11 | S 11 | S 11 | S 10 | S 10 | S 9 | SSW 7 | SSW 13 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | S 11 |
| kJ | 1604 | 401 | 363 | 628 | 1079 | 468 | 311 | 191 | 188 | 71 | 30 | 15 | 139 | 799 | 994 | 661 | 431 | 260 | 57 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 12 | SE 11 | S 17 | S 16 | ESE 12 | S 16 | ESE 11 | SE 11 | E 15 | E 13 | E 13 | E 13 | NW 6 | ESE 13 | ESE 14 | ESE 14 | ESE 14 | ESE 14 | SSW 14 |
| kJ | 23 | 20 | 92 | 198 | 15 | 80 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 118 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 9 | S 18 | SE 13 | SE 12 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | SE 12 | E 16 | E 15 | S 13 | S 16 | S 15 | NW 8 | — | SE 14 | — | — | — | SE 14 |
| kJ | 45 | 6 | 7 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 10 | — | 8 | — | — | — | 8 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | — | NNW 4 | NNW 6 | NNW 6 | NW 6 | NW 7 | NW 6 | NW 5 | NNW 6 | NNW 3 | NNW 5 | NW 4 | NW 5 | NW 6 | NW 6 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 163 | 423 | 189 | 509 | 228 | 110 | 22 | 6 | 66 | 15 | 90 | 260 | 159 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 62 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 54 | 62 | 124 | 124 | 124 | 137 | 1 | 2 | 54 | 55 | 62 | 124 | 62 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Wellington | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Houghton Bay 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 Houghton Bay Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Houghton Bay provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Houghton Bay can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Houghton Bay 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 (Houghton Bay) 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 Houghton Bay 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.
Houghton Bay is 7 km (4 miles) from the city of Wellington. If you plan a holiday in Wellington, look for hotels and other accommodation in Wellington. Wellington has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest