Waiapu River 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

Lat Long: 37.77° S 178.48° E

Issued: 11 am 18 Jul 2026 (local time)

Forecast update in hr min

Today's Waiapu River sea temperature is

15.7° C

Waiapu River surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.

Surf Forecasts:

How big are the waves at Waiapu River today (18 Jul):

Morning surf: Morning surf (18 Jul, local time) - 5ft (1.5m), 14s period with ESE swell.
Afternoon surf: Afternoon surf (18 Jul, local time) - 4.5ft (1.4m), 14s period with ESE swell.
Evening surf: Evening surf (18 Jul, local time) - 3ft (0.9m), 23s period with SSE swell.

The current surf forecast for Waiapu River at 3PM is: 1.4m 14s primary swell from a East-southeast direction and 0.6m 8s secondary swell from a South-southeast direction (forecast issued at 11:00am July 18). An open ocean swell of 0.9m 6s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be glassy and the swell rating is 3.

Time (NZST) & Date	Wave Height	Wave Period
Morning (18 Jul)	5ft (1.5m)	14s
Afternoon (18 Jul)	4.5ft (1.4m)	14s
Evening (18 Jul)	3ft (0.9m)	23s

Table - waves today at Waiapu River. (Swell directed towards the surf break)

	Short Range Forecast Light rain (total 2mm), mostly falling on Sun night. Very mild (max 14°C on Sat afternoon, min 9°C on Sat night). Wind will be generally light.
	Sat 18					Sunday 19								Monday 20
	9 AM	12 PM	3 PM	6 PM	9 PM	12 AM	3 AM	6 AM	9 AM	12 PM	3 PM	6 PM	9 PM	12 AM	3 AM	6 AM	9 AM	12 PM	3 PM	6 PM	9 PM
Rating (10 max)	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	0	2	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	1
Swell Height Map See all maps
Wave Height (m) Direction Period (s)	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 14	SSE 23	SSE 22	SSE 22	SSE 23	SSE 23	ESE 13	ESE 13	SSE 17	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	SSE 19	SSE 20	SSE 20
Wave Graph
kJ	930	811	735	613	770	862	912	971	731	414	378	344	283	258	254	206	203	199	329	621	807
Wind (km/h)	NW	W	WSW	SW	W	WSW	W	WSW	SW	SSE	SSE	SSW	SW	SSW	SW	SSW	SSW	S	S	S	S
Wind State on-shore cross-onshore cross-shore cross-offshore off-shore glassy	off	glassy	glassy	glassy	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross-off	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross	cross	cross	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on	cross-on
High Tide		9:04AM1.66m				9:31PM1.78m				9:58AM1.62m				10:22PM1.72m				10:51AM1.58m
Low Tide				3:17PM0.02m				3:53AM0.04m				4:09PM0.08m				4:44AM0.07m				5:01PM0.15m


	7:16	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7:15	—	—	—	—	—
	—	—	5:07	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:07	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5:08	—	—
mm	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1	1	—	—	—	—
Temp °C	10	13	14	11	10	10	9	9	9	12	13	12	12	12	11	11	11	12	12	11	11
Feels °C	7	11	13	10	8	8	7	6	7	9	9	7	8	8	7	6	5	6	6	6	7
Swell 1 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 14	ESE 13	ESE 13	ESE 13	ESE 13	ESE 13	ESE 13	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	ESE 12	SSE 20	SSE 20
kJ	930	811	735	613	604	586	499	499	491	414	378	292	283	258	254	203	203	199	196	621	807
Swell 2 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	SSE 8	SSE 8	SSE 8	SSE 8	SSE 23	SSE 22	SSE 22	SSE 23	SSE 23	SSE 18	SSE 17	SSE 17	SSE 17	SSE 16	S 5	SSE 16	SSE 16	SSE 16	SSE 19	ESE 11	ESE 11
kJ	72	68	49	47	770	862	912	971	731	257	170	344	162	149	28	206	138	138	329	148	130
Swell 3 Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	S 28	NW 6	SSE 24	SSE 7	SSE 7	S 7	SSE 7	SSE 7	SSE 22	SSE 21	SSE 21	SSE 21	SSE 21	SSE 16	N 10	SSE 19	SSE 19	SSE 10	—	—
kJ	—	15	11	325	43	30	26	15	16	190	173	90	89	44	206	2	74	74	22	—	—
Wind waves Height (m) Direction Period (s)	—	NW 5	NW 6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	SSE 3	S 4	S 5	S 5	S 5	S 5	S 5	SSE 6	SSE 6	SSE 5	SSE 5
kJ	—	17	52	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3	26	23	28	52	25	50	77	65	60	48
Nearest Offshore or Glassy	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Waiapu River East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Tokata East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Te Araroa East Cape	Tokomaru Bay East Cape	Tokomaru Bay East Cape	Tokomaru Bay East Cape	Tokomaru Bay East Cape	Tokomaru Bay East Cape
Rating (10 max)	4	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Distance (km)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	18	18	24	18	18	18	18	42	42	42	42	42
Best forecast wave conditions in East Cape	Loisell's	Loisell's	Tolaga Bay	Tolaga Bay	Loisell's	Loisell's	Loisell's	Loisell's	Loisell's	Tolaga Bay	Tokomaru Bay	Three Points	Three Points	Three Points	Three Points	Tokomaru Bay	Tokomaru Bay	Tokomaru Bay	Tokomaru Bay	Tolaga Bay	Tolaga Bay
Rating (10 max)	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	2	4	4	4	4	2	2	2	2	5	5
Best forecast wave conditions in New Zealand	Blaketown Wedge West Coast South Island	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Shingles West Coast South Island	Shingles West Coast South Island	White Rock - The Spit Wairarapa	White Rock - The Spit Wairarapa	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Otago Peninsula - Papanui Beach Otago	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Papatowai Catlins	Ning Nong Point and Reef Wairarapa
Rating (10 max)	4	9	9	5	5	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	7	5	5	5	6
Header Global	Dunedin - Bobs Beach New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Seconds (White Rock) New Zealand	Seconds (White Rock) New Zealand	Seconds (White Rock) New Zealand	Seconds (White Rock) New Zealand	Dunedin - Cob Cottage New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Papatowai New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Otago Peninsula - Allans Beach New Zealand	Ning Nong Point and Reef New Zealand	Humenga Point New Zealand	Humenga Point New Zealand	Ning Nong Point and Reef New Zealand
Rating (10 max)	6	9	9	9	8	7	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	8	7	6	6	5	6

Map Icons:
Break
Live Wave Height (m)
Live Wind Speed (km/h)
Surf Rating (10 Max)
Ocean Swells (m)
Wind Speed (km/h)

Latest Updates

Ben Mondy

FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website

The surf report / weather widget below is available to embed on third party websites free of charge and provides a summary of our Waiapu River surf forecast. Simply grab the html code snippet that we provide and paste it into your own site. You can choose your preferred language and metric/imperial units for the surf forecast feed to suit users of your site. Click here to get the code.

Waiapu River 48 hour detailed Surf Forecast

How big are the waves at Waiapu River today (18 Jul):

Short Range Forecast

Latest Updates

How Our WaveFinder Tool Makes Forecasting Easier Than Ever Before

The Five Best Forecasts For International Surfing Day 2026

Best Surf Travel Deals & Discounts For 2026 To Help Make Surf Travel Cheaper

Let Our Surf Alerts Do All Your Forecast Heavy Lifting

Talking To Maddie Meddings on New Film Undercurrents. (And Then Watch It!)

FREE! Surf-Forecast.com widget for your website