Shag Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Otago, New Zealand)

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Shag Beach Surf Guide

Shag Beach in N Otago is an exposed beach and reef break that has quite reliable surf and can work at any time of the year. Works best in offshore winds from the west. Most of the surf here comes from groundswells and the ideal swell direction is from the south. The beach break provides left and right handers and there is a right hand reef break as well.. Best around high tide. It very rarely gets crowded here. Sharks have been reported here.

Shag Beach Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach and reef	3	fairly consistent	13.1°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Shag Beach:

The best conditions reported for surf at Shag Beach occur when a South swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the West.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

juneBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Shag Beach with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of June. Clean surfable waves are typically found 45% of the time in June while 23% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 32% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

45%

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

blown out

23%

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

too small

32%

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

Explore Shag Beach Location Map

Interactive Shag Beach 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. The closest passenger airport to Shag Beach is Oamaru Airport (OAM) in New Zealand, 52 km (32 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Shag Beach is Dunedin Airport (DUD), also in New Zealand, 76 km (47 miles) away.

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.

Shag Beach Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Wednesday, 6 May 2026, 19:11 Local Time

m, °C	Wednesday 06			Thu
ft, °F	3PM	6PM	9PM	0AM
Wave (m)	S	S	S	S
Period (s)	14	14	14	14
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross- off	cross- off	cross

Tides at Shag Beach

Current tide and informaton

For Lighthouse (Spot C), 4 km from Shag Beach.

Next High Water: 06:59am | 1.41m

Next Low Water: 01:04am | 0.5m

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

Shag Beach Sea Temperature

The water temperature (13.1 °C) at Shag Beach is quite cool. If the sun shines as we have forecast, it should feel warm enough to surf in a good spring wetsuit. Effective windchill factor of (15.0 °C) will make the air and water feel about the same temperature.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 13.1°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite