Wharariki Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let me break it down for you. It’s Rusty here, and I’m looking at the next couple of weeks for Wharariki Beach. Honestly, it’s a pretty rough stretch for paddle surfing. The wind is going to be a major problem for most of it, and the conditions are mostly blown-out or just not worth the effort.

We’ve got a bit of west swell on the way throughout the period, but the wind is a killer. The forecast kicks off on Thursday the 23rd and Friday the 24th with a moderate to strong cross-shore wind, making for messy, lumpy surface conditions. Swell is small to moderate, around 2.9 ft to 5.2 ft, but the wind just wrecks any chance of a clean wave.

The waves really start to build through the weekend. Saturday the 25th sees an 11.5 ft to 13.1 ft west swell rolling in, with a very long period of 15 seconds. That is strong, powerful groundswell. For an exposed beach break like Wharariki, that long period tends to make waves stand up too straight and close out. The wind is still a strong cross-offshore, so it will be clean, but at 13.1 ft this is strictly for experts only. The swell energy is very strong.

Sunday the 26th drops back to 5.2 ft to 5.6 ft, period staying long at 14-15 seconds. The wind eases up a touch, and we start seeing clean conditions with a cross-off wind. This is the first day that starts to look borderline.

The standout for the whole forecast, without a doubt, is Monday the 27th of July. I’m talking about the morning session. We get clean, offshore winds from the SSE at just 6.2 mph, swinging into a very light ESE cross-shore by the afternoon. Swell is still a clean 5.2 ft from the west, with a nice 13-second period. The wind is light, the waves are organised, and it looks like a solid, intermediate level day with good shape. That’s the one to circle—glassy, clean, and the best of the lot.

After that, the conditions deteriorate again. Tuesday the 28th sees much smaller swell and a clean cross-off wind, but it’s weak. Wednesday the 29th morning is glassy with 2.6 ft swell, which is small but clean—a good beginner-friendly option if you just want a float. But from Thursday the 30th onwards, the wind cranks back up. We get a near-gale event on Friday the 31st with an 11.5 ft north-northwest swell but winds are 34.2 mph. The same setup continues into the first week of August: clean, but with strong to near-gale cross-off winds and moderate to long period west swell. The wave heights stay around 2.9 ft to 4.6 ft on Wednesday and Thursday the 6th and 7th of August, but with that wind, it’s really only an option if you’re into hardcore windsurfing or kiting. For paddle surfing, the wind is just too strong and makes it a poor choice.

Because of the persistent wind, the only true standouts are that Monday morning and the small, glassy Wednesday morning on the 29th of July. Everything else is blown out or simply too big with the wrong wind direction to be enjoyable on a paddle board. Consider this a long gap of poor conditions, with only a couple of brief windows.

Stay patient, and keep an eye on that Monday.

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