Surf Forecasts:
Te Araroa surf forecast from 16 Sep 2026:
- Best quality surf: Friday 18 Sep, 9PM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 8s period, N swell with cross-offshore winds.
- Most powerful swell: Saturday 19 Sep, 3AM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 10s period, N swell with 1,374 kJ wave energy.
- Next surfable swell (1★+): Friday 18 Sep, 9PM (local time) - 8ft (2.5m), 8s period with N swell.
Best Forecast Surf Conditions for Te Araroa this week:
The surf forecast for Te Araroa over the next 16 days: The first swell (rated 1 star or higher) is forecast to arrive on Friday (Sep 18) at 9PM. The primary swell is predicted to be 2.5m and 8s period with a secondary swell of 0.7m and 11s. The wind is predicted to be cross-offshore as the swell arrives.
The most powerful waves expected at Te Araroa in the next 16 days are 2.5m 10s and forecast to arrive on Saturday (Sep 19) at 3AM. Winds are predicted to be offshore at the time the swell arrives. The largest open ocean swell (not directed at the beach) is 4.0m 9s period and expected on Sunday (Sep 20) at 12PM.
| Wave Type | Time (NZST) & Date | Wave Height & Period |
|---|---|---|
| Next good surf (1 star+) | 9PM (Fri 18th Sep) | 8ft (2.5m) 8s |
| Best Surf | 9PM (Fri 18th Sep) | 8ft (2.5m) 8s |
| Most Powerful | 3AM (Sat 19th Sep) | 8ft (2.5m) 10s |
Table - best surf conditions forecast for Te Araroa over the next 16 days.
The Lowdown
Alright, Rusty here, checkin' out the next few weeks for Te Araroa. We're gonna have to wait a bit for the good stuff. The first real shot at a wave doesn't come until mid-late next week.
Right now and for a few days, it's basically flat-lining. Winds are all wrong and the swell is tiny. Thursday the 18th brings a big pulse of storm energy, with a gnarly 10ft north swell hitting Friday morning (combined energy of 1465), but it's gonna be blown out by strong onshore winds and risk of thunderstorms. That's strictly for the kite crew or the guys with big balls. Friday afternoon drops to 8ft but it's still messy with a cross-onshore wind. Leave it.
Saturday the 19th morning looks much better. A clean 6ft NW groundswell with a light offshore from the SW. That's your first proper window, with moderate combined swell energy (936). Not huge, but clean and rideable. Get out for a dawn session. Sunday the 20th is small again and the wind shifts. Then we hit a real flat spell. From the 21st through the 24th, there's nothing—just tiny ankle-snappers with hardly any energy. A classic late winter lull.
The next standout is Friday morning the 25th. The swell bumps up to a clean 3ft from the SE (8 seconds) under glassy conditions (combined energy of 220). Not big, but glass-off perfection for a little longboard or twinny. Saturday the 26th morning is even better on paper: a 3ft SE swell with a very long 14-second period (combined energy of 239). That's a proper groundswell that will wrap around the point with some real authority. That's the session to aim for. Into the second week, Thursday the 1st of October shows a 6ft WNW windswell (combined energy of 201) with clean offshore winds, but with only 6 seconds of period it'll be lumpy and closing out on the beach. Might be alright on the point if the direction holds.
For the best of the bunch, I'm calling the Saturday the 19th morning for the cleanest 6ft NW swell. That offshore wind is going to make it look like a postcard. The other top pick is Saturday the 26th morning—the 3ft swell is smaller, but that 14-second pulse will give it plenty of punch and nice lines, especially on the point.
Water temp is about 58°F, which is normal for the season. Te Araroa is a beach and point setup, so the point will handle those longer period swells the best. Crowds are never a problem here, so you'll have the place mostly to yourself.
Alright, a quiet week ahead, but the 19th and the 26th are worth gettin' excited about.
Rusty.
Short Range ForecastModerate rain (total 16mm), heaviest on Fri morning. Very mild (max 16°C on Wed afternoon, min 10°C on Wed night). Mainly fresh winds. | Days 5-7 Weather SummaryLight rain (total 5mm), mostly falling on Sun morning. Very mild (max 17°C on Tue morning, min 8°C on Sun night). Winds decreasing (fresh winds from the W on Sun morning, light winds from the WNW by Mon morning). | |||||||||||||||||||
Wed 16 | Thursday 17 | Friday 18 | Saturday 19 | Sunday 20 | Monday 21 | Tuesday 22 | ||||||||||||||
PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | AM | PM | Night | |
Swell Height Map |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |||||||||||||
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 9 | SE 10 | SE 10 | SE 10 | NNW 6 | N 8 | N 9 | N 9 | NW 9 | NNE 8 | SE 11 | SE 11 | SE 11 | NE 9 | NE 10 | NE 10 | NE 10 | ESE 13 | SE 12 | SE 12 |
Wave Graph  | ||||||||||||||||||||
 kJ | 106 | 110 | 141 | 113 | 199 | 1196 | 1108 | 1051 | 497 | 105 | 99 | 59 | 57 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 25 | 23 |
Wind (km/h) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy | cross | cross-off | cross | cross-on | cross-on | on | cross-on | cross-off | off | cross | cross | cross-off | off | off | off | cross | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off | cross-off |
High Tide | 10:28PM1.97m | 10:55AM1.96m | 11:09PM1.92m | 11:41AM1.92m | 11:50PM1.87m | 12:29PM1.88m | 00:34AM1.81m | 1:20PM1.85m | 1:24AM1.77m | 2:15PM1.83m | 2:20AM1.76m | 3:13PM1.82m | ||||||||
Low Tide | 4:24PM0.49m | 4:48AM0.44m | 5:07PM0.57m | 5:28AM0.52m | 5:54PM0.66m | 6:10AM0.61m | 6:46PM0.73m | 6:56AM0.69m | 7:41PM0.77m | 7:48AM0.74m | 8:36PM0.79m | 8:48AM0.75m | 9:27PM0.77m | |||||||
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | — | — | 6:03 | — | — | 6:03 | — | — | 6:01 | — | — | 5:58 | — | — | 5:58 | — | — | 5:56 | — | — |
 | 5:57 | — | — | 5:58 | — | — | 5:59 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:00 | — | — | 6:01 | — |
mm | — | — | — | — | 7 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 |
Temp °C | 16 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 13 |
Feels °C | 11 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 11 |
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 9 | SE 10 | SE 10 | SE 10 | SE 11 | SE 13 | N 9 | N 9 | NW 9 | WNW 7 | SE 11 | SE 11 | SE 11 | WNW 9 | SSE 11 | SSE 11 | WNW 7 | WNW 7 | SSE 8 | WNW 6 |
| kJ | 106 | 110 | 141 | 113 | 63 | 269 | 1108 | 1051 | 497 | 193 | 99 | 59 | 57 | 707 | 469 | 387 | 166 | 145 | 90 | 103 |
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | SE 13 | SE 12 | NE 12 | NE 11 | SE 9 | S 15 | SE 12 | SE 11 | NNE 9 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 8 | SSE 7 | SSE 11 | WNW 8 | NE 10 | SSE 10 | SSE 9 | SE 12 | SE 12 |
| kJ | 57 | 92 | 21 | 19 | 27 | 4 | 236 | 94 | 272 | 112 | 51 | 19 | 10 | 379 | 117 | 4 | 235 | 127 | 25 | 23 |
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s) | NE 12 | NE 12 | N 11 | N 11 | SE 14 | S 12 | S 18 | SE 13 | SE 12 | NNE 8 | NNE 8 | SSW 13 | NE 9 | NE 9 | NE 10 | S 20 | NE 10 | ESE 13 | NE 12 | E 12 |
| kJ | 23 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 52 | 3 | 6 | 80 | 167 | 105 | 35 | 34 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 17 | 6 | 3 |
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s) | WNW 5 | WNW 4 | WNW 5 | NW 5 | NNW 6 | N 8 | — | — | S 7 | — | WNW 7 | WNW 8 | WNW 9 | — | S 12 | WNW 7 | — | — | WNW 7 | SSE 8 |
| kJ | 78 | 36 | 35 | 47 | 199 | 1196 | — | — | 465 | — | 498 | 1536 | 1937 | — | 2984 | 120 | — | — | 99 | 76 |
Nearest Offshore or Glassy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Distance (km) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 67 | 116 | 118 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 56 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 9 |
Best forecast wave conditions in East Cape | ||||||||||||||||||||
Best forecast wave conditions in New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Information about the Te Araroa Surf forecast
The above surf forecast table for Te Araroa provides essential information for determining whether the surfing conditions will be good over the next 16 days. A general guide to surfing at Te Araroa can be found by selecting the local surf guide option on the grey menu. Our Te Araroa surf forecast is unique since it includes wave energy (power) that defines the real feel of the surf rather than just the height or the period. If you surf the same spot (Te Araroa) regularly then make a mental note of the wave energy from the surf forecast table each time you go. Very soon you may start to choose your surf days based on the wave energy alone combined with our forecast of favourable offshore wind conditions. Our star ratings will help here and of course you will also find the usual wave height and period predictions on our surf forecasts as well as a full break down of the swell components under our advanced users option (to reveal that, click the little Einstein character under the tide times).
Further information to help with frequently asked questions about our surf forecast for Te Araroa may be found under the help tab on the top menu and also by moving your mouse over the question marks on the surf forecast table itself. Please always bear in mind that the forecast is for near-shore open water and local factors at each surf break influence the actual breaking wave height, such as the beach / reef profile, water depths offshore and shelter.
Are you planning a holiday in East Cape? If you are looking for accommodation near Te Araroa, camping, hotels and holiday cottages in East Cape, consider staying in Gisborne which is 119 km (74 miles) away.
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