
Surf Forecasts:
Lake Ferry surf forecast from 8 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Saturday 12 Sep, 3PM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 13s period, SSW swell with glassy winds.
- Most powerful swell: Sunday 13 Sep, 12AM (local time) - 10ft (3.0m), 16s period, SSW swell with 4,400 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Tuesday 8 Sep, 3PM (local time) - 2.5ft (0.7m), 9s period with S 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 Tuesday (Sep 08) at 3PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 0.7m and 9s period with a secondary swell of 0.2m and 6s. The wind is predicted to be glassy as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Lake Ferry in the next 16 days are 3.0m 16s and forecast to arrive on Sunday (Sep 13) at 12AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 2.4m 6s period and expected on Thursday (Sep 10) at 3AM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 3PM (Tue 8th Sep) | 2.5ft (0.7m) 9s |
| Best Surf | 3PM (Sat 12th Sep) | 10ft (3.0m) 13s |
| Most Powerful | 12AM (Sun 13th Sep) | 10ft (3.0m) 16s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Lake Ferry over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, grab your wettie and listen up. Rusty here, and I've been staring at the charts for Lake Ferry, and it's a bit of a mixed bag, a real tale of two weeks.
The First Week: Patience, Then Power
Right now, things are flat and pretty average. We're looking at a couple of days of small, weak surf, with the energy reading in the low hundreds or less. Not worth getting too excited about. The water's sitting around 56°, which is a touch warmer than normal for this time of year, so that's one small blessing.
Then, just when you think it's a write-off, things switch on. Friday morning looks like the first real call. We've got a SSW swell pushing in at 6ft with a short, punchy 7-second period, and the energy jumps to a solid 561. The wind is dead glassy too. This will be a fun, if not a bit disorganized, beach break. It's not huge, but it'll be clean and contestable for the experienced crew.
But hold on. Saturday afternoon is where things get serious. The swell is predicted to jack up to a solid 10ft with a proper 13-second period and a massive energy reading of 3001. This is a lot of water for Lake Ferry, and the data says it's likely going to be too big and unruly for this break. This is one for the experts only, and even then, you'd be charging hard.
Sunday and Monday mornings look like the real standouts of this first week. We've got excellent conditions for experienced surfers. Sunday morning has a clean 8ft SSW swell with a 15-second period, a huge energy of 2264, and absolutely no wind – glassy perfection. Monday morning follows up with a 7ft S swell, 12-second period, and an energy of 2213, also in glassy conditions. This is the window. The swell direction is from the SSW/S which is right in line with the optimum for this spot. Get out there, but know that 2m+ at a sandbar is no joke.
After that, the middle of the week (Tue-Wed) looks to get messy with strong winds and a drop in size, so the quality will fall away.
The Second Week: Big, But Battered
The second week is less promising. There's a massive pulse of energy mid-week that's just too much. Thursday afternoon is looking at a huge 16ft SSW swell with an energy of 7478, but a strong cross-off wind and the sheer size will make it unmanageable for most and a full-on mission for anyone else. Too big, too dangerous. The rest of the week is a mix of poor surf quality brought on by onshore winds and lumpy conditions. There's a small window on Friday morning with 8ft SSW swell and 11-second period and glassy wind, which could be clean, but the direction and period feel a bit less ideal than the previous week's standouts.
The Call:
The best surf on offer is Sunday, September 13th morning and Monday, September 14th morning. The bigger, cleaner pulses of SSW groundswell with light winds are the clear winners. The 10ft Saturday afternoon and the 16ft Thursday afternoon are expert-only, and likely closing out. It's a promising first half, then a wild and messy second half. Keep your wits about you.
- Rusty
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 29mm), heaviest during Thu afternoon. Very mild (max 14°C on Wed afternoon, min 7°C on Tue night). Winds increasing (calm on Tue morning, strong winds from the NW by Wed night). | Days 4-6 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Sun afternoon. Very mild (max 13°C on Sun morning, min 7°C on Fri night). Wind will be generally light. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday 8 | Wednesday 9 | Thursday 10 | Friday 11 | Saturday 12 | Sunday 13 | Monday 14 | |||||||||||||||
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 10 | S 9 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | SSW 7 | SSW 7 | SSW 17 | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | S 12 | SSW 10 | SSW 12 |
Wave Graph | |||||||||||||||||||||
125 | 81 | 55 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 18 | 75 | 724 | 310 | 235 | 201 | 351 | 3001 | 4400 | 2264 | 1570 | 1026 | 1269 | 951 | 1012 | |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | glassy | glassy | cross-off | off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | on | on | glassy | cross-off | off | cross | glassy | cross-off | glassy | cross | cross | glassy | glassy | cross-off |
High Tide | 1:56PM1.40m | 2:20AM1.25m | 2:51PM1.40m | 3:15AM1.26m | 3:46PM1.38m | 4:10AM1.26m | 4:40PM1.35m | 5:05AM1.26m | 5:34PM1.31m | 6:00AM1.25m | 6:28PM1.27m | 6:54AM1.25m | 7:22PM1.23m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 8:17PM0.06m | 8:31AM0.02m | 9:12PM0.05m | 9:28AM0.02m | 10:07PM0.06m | 10:25AM0.02m | 11:02PM0.06m | 11:22AM0.04m | 11:56PM0.08m | 12:20PM0.07m | 00:49AM0.10m | 1:15PM0.10m | 1:40AM0.12m | ||||||||
6:33 | — | — | 6:31 | — | — | 6:30 | — | — | 6:28 | — | — | 6:26 | — | — | 6:24 | — | — | 6:22 | — | — | |
— | 6:00 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 6:02 | — | — | 6:04 | — | — | 6:05 | — | — | 6:06 | — | — | 6:07 | — | |
mm | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 23 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 11 | 10 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 11 |
Feels °C | 9 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 7 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SSW 10 | S 9 | S 9 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | S 8 | WNW 5 | SSW 19 | SSW 7 | SSW 7 | SSW 8 | S 6 | SSW 13 | SSW 16 | SSW 15 | SSW 14 | SSW 13 | SSW 12 | SSW 10 | SSW 12 |
125 | 81 | 55 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 11 | 32 | 72 | 310 | 136 | 60 | 141 | 3001 | 4400 | 2264 | 1570 | 1026 | 944 | 951 | 1012 | |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 6 | ESE 6 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | ESE 8 | SSW 14 | SSW 14 | E 8 | SSW 18 | SSW 17 | SSW 16 | SSW 14 | ENE 13 | — | ENE 12 | NNE 12 | NW 6 | — | — | — |
9 | 4 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 6 | 18 | 75 | 1 | 251 | 235 | 201 | 351 | 17 | — | 14 | 14 | 5 | — | — | — | |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SW 14 | S 13 | S 13 | S 12 | S 19 | S 18 | ESE 8 | S 8 | E 14 | — | E 7 | E 7 | SSW 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | — | 1 | 1 | 102 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | NW 3 | NW 6 | NW 6 | SSW 3 | SSW 7 | — | NW 4 | NNW 4 | — | — | NNW 4 | WNW 4 | NW 6 | — | S 12 | — | NNW 3 |
— | — | — | — | 6 | 268 | 155 | 8 | 724 | — | 12 | 5 | — | — | 21 | 22 | 18 | — | 1269 | — | 4 | |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 9 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 27 | 94 | 82 | 82 | 130 | 9 | 27 | 9 | 18 | 9 | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Best forecast wave conditions in The Wairarapa | |||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in New Zealand | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.










