Shark Alley Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Great Barrier Island, New Zealand)

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Shark Alley Surf Guide

Shark Alley in Great Barrier Island is a quite exposed reef break that has fairly consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. Ideal winds are from the southwest. Groundswells more frequent than windswells and the ideal swell direction is from the northeast. The beach break offers both left and right hand waves and there is right hand reef break too.. Good surf at all stages of the tide. Relatively few surfers here, even on good days. Beware of rips, sharks.

Shark Alley Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Reef	2	fairly consistent	19.3°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Shark Alley:

The best conditions reported for surf at Shark Alley occur when a Northeast swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southwest.

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

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

februaryBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Shark Alley with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of February. Clean surfable waves are typically found 10% of the time in February while 31% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 59% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

10%

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

blown out

31%

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

too small

59%

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

Explore Shark Alley Location Map

Interactive Shark Alley 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 Shark Alley is Auckland International Airport (AKL) in New Zealand, 104 km (65 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Shark Alley is Whangarei Airport (WRE), also in New Zealand, 117 km (73 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.

Shark Alley Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 16:26 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05			Wed
ft, °F	3PM	6PM	9PM	0AM
Wave (m)	ENE	ENE	ENE	ENE
Period (s)	8	8	8	8
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	on

Tides at Shark Alley

Current tide and informaton

For Tryphena, New Zealand, 6 km from Shark Alley.

Next High Water: 09:56pm | 2.1m

Next Low Water: 03:52am | 0.67m

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

Shark Alley Sea Temperature

The Shark Alley water temperature is reasonably warm (19.3 °C) and the air temperature will similar (windchill forecast 16.0 °C). A good quality summer wetsuit would be ideal.

Today, many surfers would wear a summer wetsuit.

Current Temp*: 19.3°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

View Sea Temp Map

Swell History at Shark Alley

Surf stats for Shark Alley, see the swell variation by month or season on the history page here.

Average Swell

View Swell Statistics

Wind History at Shark Alley

Wind stats for Shark Alley, see the variation in direction and stength by month or season on the history page here.

Average Wind

View Wind Statistics

Shark Alley Reviews:

Interactive Porthcawl Point location map. View nearby buoy information, live wind conditions and surrounding roads, paths and locations to help find new breaks. Click the buoys or wind icon to view more information.

Ratings

Based on 1 vote.

Overall:2.0
Quality on a good day:2.0
Consistency of Surf:3.0
Difficulty Level:4.0
Crowds:4.0
...

See all 18 ratings

Review

Impartial reviews submitted by Surf-Forecast users.

Moggy from Australia

“The setup reminds me of a shallow version of Boneyards at Kiama in NSW. As the break faces North it is sheltered and very surfable in a SE wind. Watch your fins on the shallow boulders that poke up to the surface on the inside. A quality boulder reef setup that likes a solid 5ft+ of swell to show its true colours.”

Other Nearby Breaks Closest To:

Discover surf breaks near Shark Alley. Click below to view there surf guides.