Papatea Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(East Cape, New Zealand)

Forecast
- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
Maps
Live
Weather State
Spot Information

Papatea Bay Surf Guide

Papatea Bay in East Cape is an exposed beach break that has quite reliable surf and can work at any time of the year. Offshore winds are from the southeast and there is no shelter here from cross shore breezes. Groundswells more frequent than windswells and the ideal swell direction is from the north. The beach breaks offer lefts and rights together with both left and right hand reef breaks offshore. Good surf at all stages of the tide. The location means that it never gets crowded.

Papatea Bay Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach	3	fairly consistent	18.7°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Papatea Bay:

The best conditions reported for surf at Papatea Bay occur when a North swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southeast.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Papatea Bay (for consistent clean waves)?

januaryBest Season: summer

The best time of year for surfing Papatea Bay with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Summer and most often the month of January. Clean surfable waves are typically found 16% of the time in January while 35% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 49% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

16%

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

35%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

49%

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Papatea Bay Location Map

Interactive Papatea Bay surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail.

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Papatea Bay Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 06:37 Local Time

m, °C	Wednesday 06
ft, °F	3AM	6AM	9AM	12PM
Wave (m)	ENE	ENE	ENE	ENE
Period (s)	9	9	9	9
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross- on

What does Papatea Bay look like?

Latest photos from Papatea Bay. Upload your own or view all photos on the gallery page.

Credit: Rob Davies

Tides at Papatea Bay

Current tide and informaton

For Papatea Bay, 0 km from Papatea Bay.

Next High Water: 09:37am | 1.54m

Next Low Water: 03:50pm | 0.28m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Papatea Bay Sea Temperature

The Papatea Bay water temperature is reasonably warm (18.7 °C) and the air temperature will similar (windchill forecast 19.0 °C). A good quality summer wetsuit would be ideal.

Today, many surfers would wear a summer wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 18.7°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite