Surf Forecasts:
Mangawhai Heads surf forecast from 3 Jul 2026:
- Best quality surf: Sunday 5 Jul, 3AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 11s period, E swell with offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Saturday 4 Jul, 9AM (local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 12s period, E swell with 679 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Sunday 5 Jul, 3AM (local time) - 3.5ft (1.1m), 11s period with E swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Mangawhai Heads this week:
The surf forecast for Mangawhai Heads over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Sunday (Jul 05) at 3AM. The primary swell is predicted to be 1.1m and 11s period with a secondary swell of 1.2m and 6s. The wind is predicted to be offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Mangawhai Heads in the next 16 days are 1.5m 12s and forecast to arrive on Saturday (Jul 04) at 9AM. Winds are predicted to be cross-shore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 1.8m 6s period and expected on Monday (Jul 06) at 12AM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 3AM (Sun 5th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 11s |
| Best Surf | 3AM (Sun 5th Jul) | 3.5ft (1.1m) 11s |
| Most Powerful | 9AM (Sat 4th Jul) | 5ft (1.5m) 12s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Mangawhai Heads over the next 16 days.
Updates in hr min s Forecast update imminent
Alright, Rusty here, checking in with a look at what the next couple of weeks have in store for us.
It’s a bit of a slow start, with no real surf to get excited about for a few days. We’re looking at a gap right through Saturday the 4th and most of Sunday the 5th before things finally start to pick up. Don’t get your hopes up for those early sessions—mostly messy, onshore, or just too small to bother with.
The first real chance to get wet comes on Sunday the 5th. Early morning at Mangawhai Heads we’ve got clean, waist-high waves around 3ft, coming out of the east with a solid 11-second period. With that light offshore wind from the west, it’s going to look real pretty out there. The water temp is sitting about average for this time of year, which is fine by me. The swell energy is moderate (273), and it’s a fairly consistent beach and reef setup, so you can expect a few waves to yourself but crowds are possible. This is your best bet for a relaxed, fun session.
Monday the 6th is a write-off—swell drops right off and the wind swings around to a messy cross-off. Not much to work with there.
Come Tuesday the 7th, we get a quick pulse of swell height up to 7ft, but it’s coming with an onshore storm wind and a short, bumpy 6-second period. That’s an expert-only kind of day if you’re keen on battling the wind, but for most of us, it’s a hard pass.
Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the 9th stay small and ordinary, though Thursday morning shows a bit of promise with a clean 3ft wave and light winds. It’s surfable, just nothing to write home about.
Friday the 10th is another quiet one, but we get a little bump again on Saturday the 11th. Saturday morning has waist-to-chest high waves around 4ft from the southeast, with a 9-second period and light cross-off winds. It’s clean and rideable, but not a standout—crowds are possible and the energy is moderate (268).
From Sunday the 12th onward, things get messy again. Stronger onshore winds, rain, and a lot of choppy, short-period swell keep the quality low. There’s a few small windows of clean surf around the 17th of July, but swells drop to under 2ft, so it’s more of a longboard or cruisey fin session if anything.
Overall, the standout window is Sunday the 5th—go early for the cleanest conditions and you’ll have a good time.
Rusty
Short Range ForecastHeavy rain (total 22mm), heaviest during Sun night. Very mild (max 16°C on Sun afternoon, min 10°C on Sun night). Winds increasing (light winds from the W on Sun morning, fresh winds from the NW by Sun night). | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryHeavy rain (total 43mm), heaviest during Tue night. Very mild (max 15°C on Wed afternoon, min 11°C on Wed night). Winds decreasing (strong winds from the S on Tue night, light winds from the SW by Wed night). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 4 | Sunday 5 | Monday 6 | Tuesday 7 | Wednesday 8 | Thursday 9 | Fri 10 | |||||||||||||||
Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 12 | E 12 | E 12 | E 11 | E 11 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | NNE 6 | SE 6 | E 10 | E 10 | E 9 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | E 10 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | E 10 |
Wave Graph  | |||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 594 | 679 | 477 | 348 | 224 | 208 | 162 | 98 | 98 | 128 | 132 | 330 | 138 | 151 | 169 | 160 | 205 | 184 | 79 | 163 | 96 |
Wind (km/h) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross-on | cross | cross | cross-off | off | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-on | on | on | cross | cross | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 9:46PM2.07m | 9:58AM1.90m | 10:25PM2.07m | 10:40AM1.88m | 11:05PM2.06m | 11:24AM1.88m | 11:46PM2.05m | 12:11PM1.88m | 00:31AM2.03m | 1:02PM1.89m | 1:20AM2.02m | 1:58PM1.93m | 2:15AM2.02m | 2:57PM1.97m | |||||||
Low Tide | 4:13AM0.43m | 4:19PM0.34m | 4:54AM0.41m | 4:59PM0.37m | 5:35AM0.40m | 5:41PM0.41m | 6:17AM0.38m | 6:26PM0.44m | 7:02AM0.36m | 7:16PM0.47m | 7:51AM0.33m | 8:11PM0.48m | 8:45AM0.30m | ||||||||
 |  |  | | | |  | | |  |  | | |  | |  | | |  | | | |
 | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — | — | 7:31 | — |
 | — | — | 5:19 | — | — | 5:19 | — | — | 5:20 | — | — | 5:20 | — | — | 5:21 | — | — | 5:21 | — | — | 5:22 |
mm | 1 | — | — | 7 | — | — | 14 | — | — | 9 | 8 | 6 | 15 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Temp °C | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
Feels °C | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 8 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | E 12 | E 12 | E 12 | E 11 | E 11 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | E 10 | NNE 6 | N 8 | E 10 | E 10 | E 9 | ESE 10 | ESE 10 | E 10 | ESE 9 | ESE 10 | E 10 |
| kJ | 594 | 679 | 477 | 348 | 224 | 208 | 162 | 98 | 98 | 128 | 132 | 153 | 138 | 151 | 169 | 160 | 205 | 184 | 79 | 163 | 96 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | N 10 | NE 10 | N 10 | NE 10 | NE 6 | NE 6 | — | NE 6 | NNW 6 | — | N 18 | E 10 | NNE 8 | N 8 | SSE 5 | N 7 | NE 9 | N 9 | E 10 | — | NE 8 |
| kJ | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 33 | 47 | — | 20 | 28 | — | 6 | 69 | 52 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 52 | — | 3 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | — | — | — | N 6 | NE 9 | — | N 10 | NE 6 | — | — | — | SE 6 | NE 10 | N 7 | NE 9 | N 15 | N 14 | — | N 13 | N 13 |
| kJ | — | — | — | — | 16 | 3 | — | 2 | 6 | — | — | — | 34 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | — | 3 | 3 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | — | NE 4 | NNE 5 | N 6 | — | — | N 6 | NW 4 | — | N 5 | E 5 | SE 6 | SSW 5 | SSW 4 | SW 4 | SSW 4 | SW 3 | S 3 | — | S 3 | S 4 |
| kJ | — | 11 | 52 | 154 | — | — | 214 | 29 | — | 54 | 129 | 330 | 57 | 29 | 20 | 7 | 2 | 2 | — | 8 | 10 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 27 | 23 | 297 | 27 | 0 | 27 | 331 | 27 | 23 | 90 | 145 | 73 | 159 | 98 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Best forecast wave conditions in Northland | |||||||||||||||||||||
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 Mangawhai Heads 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 Mangawhai Heads Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Mangawhai Heads provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Mangawhai Heads can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Mangawhai Heads 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 (Mangawhai Heads) 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 Mangawhai Heads 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.
Mangawhai Heads is 46 km (29 miles) from the city of Whangarei. If you plan a holiday in Northland, look for hotels and other accommodation in Whangarei. Whangarei has rooms for a wide range of budgets as well as car hire and transport links.
Nearest