Port Waikato-Sunset beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, let's get into it.

We’re looking at a proper West Coast set-up at Port Waikato-Sunset Beach. This place is an exposed, sandy stretch that needs the right conditions to come together, and right now it’s got some size but the wind is the real story. The water's sitting at 57.9°, which is pretty much spot on for this time of year.

We’ve got a solid pulse of SW groundswell arriving Thursday morning (16th July). Swell is 8.2 ft from the WSW with a nice long 15-second period, giving it some serious grunt – the energy reading is a massive 3022. The wind is light offshore from the WNW, so it’ll be clean with proper lines. The issue is the tide might be a bit questionable, but for an intermediate surfer paddling out, that morning window looks like the best bet you’ll see for a while. By the afternoon the wind swings cross-on and it gets choppy.

Friday (17th) is a write-off with a cross-onshore breeze all day making things messy. Saturday (18th) morning sees the swell jump to 9.8 ft from the SW, but with a cross-on wind, it’s a big, lumpy beast – that kind of size is expert territory anyway. The same goes for Sunday (19th) morning, with a 9.8 ft SW swell and a cross wind but the energy is over 4000, so there’s heaps of power. It’s just too big for this beach to be friendly.

There’s a real lull from Monday (20th) through to Wednesday (23rd) morning. The swell drops back under 6.6 ft, but the wind goes light and variable. On Tuesday (21st) morning we get a clean 6.2 ft swell with clean conditions, but it’s not the standout. Then Wednesday (22nd) morning is glassy with a 4.6 ft SW swell – clean as a whistle but small.

The next real standout comes on Monday (27th July). After a big, windy weekend that gets messy with 11.5 ft+ swells and strong winds, that Monday morning glass off is a treat. We’ve got a 7.2 ft SW groundswell (14-second period) and glassy conditions. That’s excellent for experienced surfers, clean, powerful, and with enough size to have fun without being scary.

Then again on Thursday morning (30th July), we get a clean 4.3 ft SW groundswell with clean offshores – smaller but super clean for a long session.

And finally, on Friday (31st July), the wind goes offshore again, but the swell is 9.8 ft with a short 8-second period. That kind of short-period, big swell on a beach break is going to be a washing machine – more of a windsurfing or kiting day than a paddle session.

So, the bottom line: Thursday morning (16th) for the best mix of size and clean conditions, and Monday morning (27th) for that glassy, experienced-friendly juice. The weekend in between is for watching.

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