Patons Rock Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

“Patons Rock? In Golden Bay? I'm joking right?

With the fickle but quality Nelson breaks like Schnappers to the east of here and the relentless Southern Ocean swells of the West Coast in the other direction, it's a rare day when surfers bother with the inside of Golden Bay, but now and then it works and when it works, it's surprisingly ok and can feel less like a windswell than you would imagine, especially if the wave period is in double digits.

The short stretch of Golden Bay between here and about Para Para is open to about 150kms of easterly fetch, as far as Wanganui in one direction and the Kapiti Coast in the other. If there is a strong wind in this 45 degree window, roughly between NE and E, it kicks up a swell and helpfully there is even a wavebuoy in the middle of Golden Bay that records it live. Once it gets over about 2m (it can get to about 4m) there will be waves in Golden Bay. Although there is a 15km stretch of coast that has all kinds of potentially nice set-ups, Patons Rock seems about the most reliable for cleaning up the swell as the wind swings cross or even off-shore. Even then, it only breaks perhaps 5 or 10 days per year, usually in autumn or winter when depressions and cyclones pass over North Island. When it does break, waves are a lot like high-tide at Rabbit Island; i.e. shoulder high and quite punchy.

Nearby Onekaka, Para Para and Milnthorpe can all produce shoulder to over head-high waves, but they tend to be straight onshore at that size. By working the angle of wind and waves, there can be good windsurfing and kitesurfing too.”