Whale Watch Reef surfForecast / Kaikoura and Marlborough / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 12 am Wednesday 17 Dec 2025 NZDT
Forecast update in hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
Whale Watch Reef surf forecast is for near shore open water. Breaking waves will often be smaller at less exposed spots.
Today's Whale Watch Reef sea temperature is
16.2° C
(Which is 2.2°C warmer than normal for this time of year)


How big are the waves at Whale Watch Reef today?

The current surf forecast for Whale Watch Reef at 4AM is: 0.7m 8s primary swell from a East-northeast direction and 0.3m 6s secondary swell from a North-northeast direction (forecast issued at 12:00am December 17). An open ocean swell of 1.8m 6s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be offshore.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (17 Dec)2.5ft (0.7m)8s
Afternoon (17 Dec)1.5ft (0.4m)8s
Evening (17 Dec)0.5ft (0.2m)9s

Table - waves today at Whale Watch Reef. (Swell directed towards the surf break)

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
Wednesday
17
Thursday
18
Friday
19
10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM
Rating
(10 max)
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
0
1
Swell
Height Map
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
0.8
NNE
0.7
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.6
ENE
0.4
NE
0.2
ENE
0.2
ENE
0.2
ENE
0.1
NE
0.1
NE
0.1
NE
0.1
NE
0.2
ENE
0.8
NNE
1.2
NNE
1.4
NNE
0.9
NE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
1.3
NE
1.1
NE
0.8
NE
Period(s) (?)788888899998888456688455
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)54505661644718788333371869132512224626029
Wind
(km/h)
10
WSW
20
WSW
30
SW
30
WSW
25
WSW
30
WSW
30
SW
25
SSW
15
SW
15
WSW
10
WSW
5
NNW
5
NE
15
ENE
15
ENE
15
NE
5
N
5
WNW
5
W
5
WNW
5
NE
15
NE
15
NE
5
WNW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off
cross-
off
offcross-
off
cross-
off
cross-
off
offoffoffoffcross-
off
glassononononcross-
on
glasscross-
off
glassonononcross-
off
High Tide
/ height (m)
3:30AM
1.89
3:50PM
1.79
4:15AM
1.91
4:35PM
1.79
4:58AM
1.92
5:17PM
1.80
Low Tide
/ height (m)
9:09PM
0.67
9:53AM
0.73
9:52PM
0.69
10:36AM
0.74
10:36PM
0.70
11:16AM
0.73
Wednesday
17
Thursday
18
Friday
19
Sunrise---5:41-------5:43-------5:43----
Sunset-------8:59-------8:59-------9:00
rain showers
rain showers
cloud
light rain
mod rain
light rain
rain showers
rain showers
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
clear
Rain (mm)
21-57211----------------
Temp. °C15141291010141313121212141617171817161618191919
Feels °C (?)1295244881081010121214151716151517171618
  • 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

Latest Updates

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 Whale Watch Reef 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.


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