Tauranga Bay Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here again, giving you the lowdown on Tauranga Bay in the units you might be more familiar with.

The next couple of weeks are all about a long siege of heavy groundswell. It’s not going to be a smooth, easy run of waves; it’s going to be a lot of energy with the wind often getting in the way. The water temp is about normal for this time of year.

We start on Wednesday afternoon, September 2. There’s a solid 6ft swell out of the WSW with a 14-second period, so there’s plenty of push. The combined energy is cranking (1408), but the wind is blowing from the WNW at 12 mph, right onshore. It’s going to be choppy with rain. Not a total loss, but not a standout.

Thursday, September 3, the swell hangs around 6ft to 7ft from the W, but the period drops to 10 seconds, so it’s a bit weaker. The morning wind is cross-shore from the N at 9 mph, and the afternoon it goes nearly glassy at 3 mph from the N. The afternoon looks cleaner, with energy at 1231, but it’s still just a marginal window.

The real standout is a long way off. Friday morning, September 11. That session has a massive 18ft swell from the W with a 19-second period – that’s a true, long-period groundswell packing insane energy (20230). The wind is glassy from the ESE at just 3 mph. It will be as clean as you can imagine, but this is a monster. At 18ft, this is strictly for the experts. It will be way too big for everyone else and potentially dangerous.

Right after that, Saturday morning, September 12, is another good call. You’ve got a 10ft swell from the WSW with a 16-second period (4181 energy) and a light cross-offshore wind from the S. The water will be clean, and while 10ft is still heavy, it’s way more manageable than the 18ft the day before. That Saturday window is a solid option for strong surfers.

For the rest of the two weeks, it’s a mix of too much wind and too much size. There’s a huge spike of energy from September 4th to the 6th with swells over 11ft, but the wind is howling cross-onshore at 19-25 mph, turning it into a complete washing machine. That setup would be way more fun for a kite surfer than a paddle surfer.

From September 13 onward, the size drops, but the windows are short and often have a cross-onshore breeze. There’s a clean morning on September 14 with a 5ft, 15-second swell and a light cross-shore wind from the SSW, but it’s only marginal.

To sum it up: Circle that Friday, September 11 for the big-wave session if you’re a proper charger. Saturday morning, September 12 is your best bet for a big, clean wave without the life-threatening size. The rest is about picking the few clean moments.

Rusty.

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