The Desert Surf Guide

The Desert in The Wairarapa is an exposed reef break that has quite consistent surf, although summer tends to be mostly flat. Offshore winds blow from the north northwest and there is no shelter here from cross shore breezes. Able to handle light onshore wind Waves just as likely from local windswells as from distant groundswells and the ideal swell direction is from the southeast. There is no reef break. It very rarely gets crowded here. Hazards include rips, rocks, seals.

The Desert Spot Info

Type:Rating:Reliability:Todays Sea Temp*:
Reef3fairly consistent
14.5°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing The Desert:

The best conditions reported for surf at The Desert occur when a Southeast swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the North-northwest.

Explore The Desert Location Map

Interactive The Desert 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.

  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
Map placeholder
Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.
The Desert Surf Forecasts:
Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 21:01 Local Time
TueWednesday 06
9PM0AM3AM6AM
Wave (m)
1.1
SSW
1.1
SSW
0.9
SSW
1.2
SSW
Period (s) 14 14 14 17
Wind (km/h)
15
20
25
35
Wind State off off off off

Swell History at The Desert

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

Wind History at The Desert

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


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