Wharariki Beach Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here. Look, I’m not gonna sugarcoat it—this 16-day window for Wharariki Beach is a real mixed bag, and mostly a tough one. We’ve got a massive pulse of swell coming, but the wind window is a nightmare. The water temp is sitting at 57°, which is about average for this time of year, so no surprises there.

The first real shot at anything decent is Tuesday the 4th of August, but it’s a scrappy one. Early morning you’ll find a 4ft W swell, with a long 16-second period, and the wind is SW, cross-off. That’s clean, but the energy is moderate (1099). The afternoon blows up with a cross-on NE wind and a 6ft W swell, which is just messy. Not a standout.

Wednesday the 5th is small and weak. Morning sees a 3ft W swell from the ESE, cross-shore, with only 309 energy. Afternoon goes even smaller with 2ft and a light onshore N breeze. Real marginal stuff.

Thursday the 6th is tiny—1ft in the morning and 0.7ft in the afternoon. The afternoon swell has a crazy long 21-second period, but it’s barely 75 energy. That’s a ghost swell. Not worth paddling out for.

Friday the 7th is a write-off. Morning is 2ft with a nasty cross-on NW wind, and the afternoon is 5ft but with 25 mph rain showers and a strong cross-onshore. Total mess.

Now, Saturday the 8th of August brings a spike. We’re looking at 8ft NW swell in the morning, but it’s short-period (8 seconds) and cross-shore wind. The energy is strong (1410), but the quality is poor. This is a big, chunky, wind-affected wave. It’s too big for beginners and only for experienced surfers, but the wind is going to chop it up. This is more of a kite surfing setup than a paddle session.

Sunday the 9th of August is the one bright spot. Morning has a 2ft W swell, 18-second period, with light ESE cross-off wind. The energy is 528, and it’s clean. This is a small, clean, long-period groundswell, perfect for a point break or reef. For a beach break, that long period might make it a bit straight, but with the light wind, it’ll be glassy. This is the best on offer, but it’s small. Crowds are never an issue here.

After that, it’s a brutal run. From Monday the 10th through to the 18th, the swell gets big—like 10ft, 15ft, even 10ft again—but the wind is howling. Strong to near-gale cross-off winds, rain, and massive energy in the thousands (5071, 7033, 7360). The conditions are poor to terrible, with the swell too big for this exposed beach break. The 14th of August afternoon has a 10ft N swell with cross-on wind, and the 15th of August morning has a 15ft WNW swell with 25 mph cross-off wind—both rated as “too big for this break.” That’s expert-only territory, and even then, the wind is a problem.

The 16th of August Sunday morning is interesting—10ft WNW swell with a long 16-second period and light SSE offshore wind. That’s clean, but the energy is 4981, and it’s still too big for most. The 18th of August Tuesday has a drop to 4ft, but the wind is cross-shore and strong, so it’s messy.

Honestly, if you’re patient, Sunday the 9th of August morning is your best bet for a clean, small session. After that, the window is closed by wind and size. The long-range stuff around the 15th and 16th is promising on paper but the wind is a killer. No real standouts beyond that first Sunday.

Rusty.

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