
Surf Forecasts:
Lake Ferry surf forecast from 24 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Sunday 26 Jul, 12AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 8s period, SSW swell with onshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Saturday 25 Jul, 6PM (local time) - 11ft (3.5m), 8s period, SSW swell with 1,375 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Sunday 26 Jul, 12AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 8s period with SSW swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Lake Ferry this week:
The surf forecast for Lake Ferry over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Sunday (Jul 26) at 12AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 3.0m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.4m and 16s. Another secondary swell of 0.3m and 16s is also forecast. The wind is predicted to be onshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Lake Ferry in the next 16 days are 3.5m 8s and forecast to arrive on Saturday (Jul 25) at 6PM. Winds are predicted to be onshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 2.2m 6s period and expected on Thursday (Jul 30) at 9PM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 12AM (Sun 26th Jul) | 10ft (3.0m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 12AM (Sun 26th Jul) | 10ft (3.0m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 6PM (Sat 25th Jul) | 11ft (3.5m) 8s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Lake Ferry over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
G’day, Rusty here, and we’ve got a patchy run of surf at Lake Ferry this next couple of weeks. The good news is, there are a couple of clean windows, but a lot of it’s going to be blown out or just too messy to get excited about. Let’s walk through it.
Saturday the 25th kicks off poor – tiny 0.7ft SSW swell in the morning with a light onshore, and then the afternoon jumps to 10ft but it’s short-period (7 seconds) junk with a fresh 19 mph onshore wind. Not worth paddling out.
Sunday the 26th isn’t much better. Morning shows 5ft S swell at 8 seconds, but it’s cross-onshore with light wind ripples, and the afternoon drops to 4ft with onshore wind. Both are marginal at best.
Monday the 27th stays poor – 4ft and 4ft S swells, both onshore. No fun.
Tuesday the 28th is our first real standout. The morning brings clean 3ft SE swell with 12 seconds of period, glassy conditions and a light northerly breeze – that’s going to be super clean. The afternoon goes even better: 3ft ESE swell, 14 seconds of period, dead calm and glassy. Combined wave energy is moderate (308 and 343), so there’s enough push for a fun session. This is the pick of the first week. The water is sitting about one and a half degrees colder than normal at 52°, so a bit nippy – suit up.
Wednesday the 29th fades. Morning has 2ft ESE swell, 13 seconds, with light offshore wind – clean but small. Afternoon gets blown out by a moderate cross-offshore breeze, and swell drops to 2ft. Thursday and Friday the 30th and 31st are poor – onshores and cross-offshore winds, swell tiny (1–1ft). A full stop on surf.
Saturday the 1st of August we get some life back. Morning brings 3ft SSW swell with 10 seconds, clean with a light cross-offshore breeze. Combined energy is moderate (251). The afternoon bumps to 4ft SSW, same period, still clean. This is a solid session for the keen.
Sunday the 2nd of August is the standout of the whole run. Morning has 3ft SSW swell, long 15-second period, clean. Then the afternoon goes glassy with 4ft SSW swell at 15 seconds and moderate combined energy (553). That is proper groundswell, long period, dead calm – the point or sandbar will be working nicely. For experts, this is the best on offer.
Monday the 3rd goes bad again – onshore winds, 6ft to 10ft S/SSW swell but short period (7-8 seconds) and lumpy. Tuesday the 4th is the same: 10ft, onshore, messy. Wednesday the 5th jumps to 8ft SSW at 13-16 seconds, but with 22 mph onshore wind – big and blown, only for the brave. Combined energy is very strong (2601–3569).
Thursday the 6th and Friday the 7th remain rough – 7ft to 8ft S/SSW swells, cross-onshore winds, choppy. The combined energy is still strong (1495–2333), but the wind kills it.
Then Saturday the 8th of August saves us. Morning brings clean 5ft S swell at 10 seconds, with a light offshore NE wind. Combined energy is moderate (604). The afternoon glassy at 4ft S. That’s a good, clean session to end on.
Sunday the 9th fades – 4ft SSE in the morning with cross-offshore wind, then dropping to 3ft in the afternoon. Not worth chasing.
So, if you’ve got to pick one day, make it Tuesday the 28th for the glassy, long-period ESE swell, and Sunday the 2nd of August for the best long-period SSW groundswell in dead calm conditions. Crowds are possible at Lake Ferry, especially when it’s clean. Everything else is either too small, too windy, or too sloppy.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Sat morning. Very mild (max 10°C on Sat morning, min 5°C on Sun night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the SSW on Sat afternoon, calm by Mon night). | Days 4-6 Weather SummarySome drizzle, heaviest during Thu night. Very mild (max 12°C on Wed night, min 4°C on Tue night). Winds increasing (calm on Tue afternoon, fresh winds from the NNW by Thu afternoon). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 25 | Sunday 26 | Monday 27 | Tuesday 28 | Wednesday 29 | Thursday 30 | Friday 31 | |||||||||||||||
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) | SSW 14 | SSW 7 | SSW 8 | S 8 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | S 7 | SE 12 | SE 12 | ESE 14 | ESE 13 | ESE 13 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 11 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 10 |
Wave Graph | |||||||||||||||||||||
19 | 700 | 998 | 300 | 156 | 61 | 158 | 139 | 252 | 220 | 257 | 154 | 151 | 87 | 57 | 48 | 27 | 24 | 41 | 68 | 424 | |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | on | on | on | cross-on | on | on | on | on | glassy | glassy | glassy | off | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | on | cross-on |
High Tide | 1:47PM1.20m | 2:05AM1.10m | 2:30PM1.21m | 2:49AM1.09m | 3:14PM1.21m | 3:33AM1.09m | 3:58PM1.22m | 4:17AM1.08m | 4:43PM1.22m | 5:02AM1.08m | 5:28PM1.21m | 5:47AM1.07m | 6:13PM1.20m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:04PM0.25m | 8:11AM0.24m | 8:49PM0.26m | 8:55AM0.24m | 9:34PM0.26m | 9:39AM0.23m | 10:20PM0.26m | 10:24AM0.22m | 11:06PM0.25m | 11:10AM0.21m | 11:52PM0.24m | 11:57AM0.21m | 00:38AM0.23m | ||||||||
7:33 | — | — | 7:33 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:30 | — | — | 7:28 | — | — | |
— | 5:16 | — | — | 5:17 | — | — | 5:19 | — | — | 5:20 | — | — | 5:21 | — | — | 5:22 | — | — | 5:22 | — | |
mm | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | — |
Temp °C | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 9 |
Feels °C | 8 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 4 | ESE 18 | SE 16 | S 8 | S 7 | S 7 | SSW 9 | ESE 13 | SE 12 | SE 12 | ESE 14 | ESE 13 | ESE 13 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 12 | ESE 11 | SSW 14 | S 4 | SE 14 |
1 | 30 | 65 | 300 | 156 | 61 | 30 | 68 | 252 | 220 | 257 | 154 | 151 | 87 | 57 | 48 | 27 | 24 | 41 | 9 | 65 | |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 14 | SE 18 | SSW 16 | SE 15 | SE 14 | SSW 12 | ESE 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 12 | SSW 11 | SSW 10 | SSW 10 | SSW 10 | SSW 9 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 13 | SSW 15 | WNW 4 | SSW 13 | E 10 |
19 | 78 | 49 | 55 | 52 | 59 | 35 | 13 | 206 | 88 | 86 | 38 | 20 | 8 | 37 | 17 | 17 | 22 | 1 | 68 | 8 | |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 18 | SE 13 | SW 16 | SW 14 | SSW 14 | SE 13 | SSW 11 | SSW 13 | — | — | — | — | S 15 | SSW 15 | SSW 9 | S 8 | NE 5 | SE 12 | ESE 11 | SE 15 | SE 11 |
12 | 26 | 63 | 54 | 78 | 45 | 24 | 18 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 35 | 5 | |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 3 | SSW 7 | SSW 8 | — | — | SSW 4 | S 7 | S 7 | — | — | — | NW 3 | NNW 4 | NW 5 | NW 6 | NW 6 | NW 6 | NW 6 | SSE 4 | SE 4 | SSW 10 |
4 | 700 | 998 | — | — | 13 | 158 | 139 | — | — | — | 3 | 22 | 67 | 195 | 223 | 231 | 373 | 4 | 9 | 424 | |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 34 | 140 | 64 | 42 | 64 | 34 | 64 | 64 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 27 | 91 | 34 | 130 | 130 | 82 | 84 | 47 |
Best forecast wave conditions in The Wairarapa | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||
Header Global | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Information about the Lake Ferry Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Lake Ferry provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Lake Ferry can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Lake Ferry 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 (Lake Ferry) 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 Lake Ferry 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.
Lake Ferry is 28 km (17 miles) from Lower Hutt. If you plan a holiday in The Wairarapa, look for hotels and other accommodation in Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.










