Trolley's Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Canterbury, New Zealand)

Forecast
- Hourly Forecast
- 16 Day Forecast
Maps
Live
Weather State
Spot Information

Trolley's Surf Guide

Trolley's in Canterbury is an exposed beach break that has fairly consistent surf and can work at any time of the year. The best wind direction is from the southwest and there is no shelter here from cross shore breezes. Clean groundswells prevail and the ideal swell direction is from the east northeast. The beach break offers both left and right hand waves. Crowds are never a problem here.

Trolley's Spot Info

Type:	Rating:	Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
Beach	2	fairly consistent	13.6°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Trolley's:

The best conditions reported for surf at Trolley's occur when a East-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 Trolley's (for consistent clean waves)?

augustBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Trolley's with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of August. Clean surfable waves are typically found 26% of the time in August while 34% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 40% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

26%

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

blown out

34%

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

too small

40%

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

Explore Trolley's Location Map

Interactive Trolley's 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 Trolley's is Christchurch International Airport (CHC) in New Zealand, which is 16 km (10 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Trolley's is Timaru Airport (TIU), also in New Zealand, 150 km (93 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.

Trolley's Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

16 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 5 May 2026, 14:29 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 05			Wed
ft, °F	3PM	6PM	9PM	0AM
Wave (m)	SSE	SSE	SSE	SSE
Period (s)	17	18	18	18
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- on	cross- on	cross- on	glass

Tides at Trolley's

Current tide and informaton

For Christchurch, 7 km from Trolley's.

Next High Water: 07:36pm | 1.81m

Next Low Water: 01:57am | 0.43m

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

Trolley's Sea Temperature

The water temperature (13.6 °C) at Trolley's is quite cool. If the sun does come out as forecast, it should feel warm enough to surf in a good sealed spring wetsuit. Some surfers would prefer to wear gloves and boots too. Effective windchill factor of (12.0 °C) will make the air and water feel about the same temperature.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit, neoprene gloves and boots.