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Surf Forecasts:

Papatowai surfForecast / Catlins / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 6 am Sunday 11 Jan 2026 NZDT
Forecast update in hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
Papatowai surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.
Today's Papatowai sea temperature is
14.9° C
 (Which is 2.7°C warmer than normal for this time of year)

How big are the waves at Papatowai today?

The current surf forecast for Papatowai at 12PM is: 0.4m 6s primary swell from a East-northeast direction (forecast issued at 06:00am January 11). An open ocean swell of 0.4m 7s is not directed at the surf break, a second open ocean swell of 4.0m 8s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be offshore.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (11 Jan)3ft (0.9m)13s
Afternoon (11 Jan)13ft (4.0m)8s
Evening (11 Jan)13ft (4.0m)13s

Table - waves today at Papatowai. (Swell directed towards the surf break)

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Sunday
11
Monday
12
Tuesday
13
Wed
14
4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM
Rating
(10 max)
2
1
0
0
2
7
4
4
3
4
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
3
2
3
3
2
4
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.2
SW
1.1
SW
0.9
SW
4
W
4.5
WSW
4
WSW
4
WSW
3.5
SW
3.5
SW
3.5
SW
3
SW
2.3
S
2.4
WSW
2.3
WSW
2.3
WSW
2.2
WSW
2.5
WSW
2.3
WSW
1.4
WSW
1.4
WSW
1.6
WSW
1.4
SW
1.3
SW
1.8
WSW
Period(s) (?)1313138814131281110119999998810101010
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)488380286024067237457533441678315316971235926870832689929791273248470384334609
Wind
(km/h)
25
NNW
25
WNW
35
WNW
45
W
40
W
35
W
30
WSW
30
WSW
30
WSW
30
WSW
30
WSW
30
W
25
W
25
W
25
W
15
WNW
10
NW
10
NW
10
W
10
WSW
15
WSW
10
W
10
WNW
10
WNW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		offoffoffoffoffoffoffoffoffoffoffoffcross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		offcross-
off		offoffcross-
off		off
High Tide
/ height (m)
9:50AM
1.62
10:23PM
1.60
10:48AM
1.57
11:23PM
1.59
11:45AM
1.56
12:18AM
1.62
Low Tide
/ height (m)
3:38AM
0.45
4:06PM
0.46
4:33AM
0.52
4:58PM
0.50
5:27AM
0.55
5:49PM
0.51
Sunday
11
Monday
12
Tuesday
13
Wed
14
Sunrise-6:01-------6:03-------6:05------
Sunset-----9:35-------9:35-------9:34--
light rain
part cloud
clear
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
light rain
rain showers
rain showers
rain showers
rain showers
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
Rain (mm)
1------11111------------
Temp. °C18191817151311101010111314151311910151617161412
Feels °C (?)151510866433347898867121313131210
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
Map placeholder

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The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Papatowai 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.

View detailed surf forecast for Papatowai at:
surf-forecast.com

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