Whale Watch Reef surfForecast / Kaikoura and Marlborough / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 12 pm Friday 09 Jan 2026 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
17.4° 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 4PM is: 0.3m 5s primary swell from a East-northeast direction (forecast issued at 12:00pm January 09). An open ocean swell of 0.3m 13s is not directed at the surf break, a second open ocean swell of 0.6m 3s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (09 Jan)1.5ft (0.5m)5s
Afternoon (09 Jan)1ft (0.3m)5s
Evening (09 Jan)0.5ft (0.2m)5s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
Friday
09
Saturday
10
Sunday
11
Monday
12
10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM
Rating
(10 max)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
2
0
1
1
0
0
0
1
2
0
0
Swell
Height Map
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
0.5
N
0.3
ENE
0.3
ENE
0.2
ENE
0.2
NNE
0.3
NE
0.6
NE
0.7
NE
0.6
NNE
0.6
N
0.9
NE
0.9
NNE
1.4
NNE
1.8
NNE
1.7
NNE
1.6
N
1.8
N
1
NNE
1.2
NNE
1.3
NNE
1.4
NNE
1.6
NNE
0.8
NNE
0.6
NNE
Period(s) (?)555555344467787776898879
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)11553346138145881188375319285302801972572772775662
Wind
(km/h)
10
W
20
WSW
30
S
5
SSE
5
ENE
15
NE
15
NE
10
NNE
5
N
10
W
5
NW
10
N
5
NW
10
NW
20
NNW
10
NNW
10
NW
30
WNW
25
NW
25
WNW
15
WNW
10
WSW
20
SSW
30
S
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off
offcross-
off
glassglassononcross-
on
glasscross-
off
glasscross-
on
crosscrosscrosscrosscrosscross-
off
crosscross-
off
cross-
off
cross-
off
cross-
off
cross-
off
High Tide
/ height (m)
10:15AM
1.97
10:45PM
1.93
11:09AM
1.91
11:36PM
1.90
12:00PM
1.87
12:26AM
1.88
Low Tide
/ height (m)
4:31PM
0.45
4:50AM
0.53
5:24PM
0.52
5:46AM
0.62
6:16PM
0.58
6:42AM
0.70
Friday
09
Saturday
10
Sunday
11
Monday
12
Sunrise-------5:58-------6:01-------6:01
Sunset---9:04-------9:04-------9:04----
clear
clear
part cloud
clear
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
light rain
mod rain
light rain
Rain (mm)
---------------------371
Temp. °C252720171617171922262625232122212528292523191813
Feels °C (?)24241517161515182224252322181718222223202019168
  • 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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