Whale Watch Reef surfForecast / Kaikoura and Marlborough / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 6 am Monday 16 Mar 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
16.3° C
(Which is 1.2°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 2PM is: 0.4m 8s primary swell from a East-northeast direction and 0.5m 5s secondary swell from a East-northeast direction (forecast issued at 06:00am March 16). An open ocean swell of 1.5m 15s is not directed at the surf break, a second open ocean swell of 0.8m 4s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be cross-offshore.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (16 Mar)1.5ft (0.5m)8s
Afternoon (16 Mar)2.5ft (0.7m)8s
Evening (16 Mar)2.5ft (0.7m)8s

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


Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent
Monday
16
Tuesday
17
Wednesday
18
Thu
19
4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM4AM7AM10AM1PM4PM7PM10PM1AM
Rating
(10 max)
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
Swell
Height Map
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
0.6
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.6
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.5
ENE
0.8
NE
1.1
NE
1.3
NE
1
NE
0.9
NE
0.8
NE
0.7
NNE
0.7
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.6
ENE
Period(s) (?)888888888888887556666777
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)533837265452473435353422323365538461624029494937
Wind
(km/h)
5
W
10
WSW
10
SSW
15
S
5
ESE
5
E
5
NNE
0
NNW
5
WNW
5
W
5
S
5
SE
10
E
10
NE
15
NNE
10
N
5
WNW
5
WNW
5
WSW
5
ENE
10
N
15
SSW
20
SW
15
SW
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off
offoffcross-
off
crossglassglassglassglassglasscross-
off
crosscross-
on
ononcross-
on
cross-
off
cross-
off
glassoncross-
on
offoffoff
High Tide
/ height (m)
3:08AM
1.86
3:31PM
1.80
3:53AM
1.90
4:16PM
1.85
4:38AM
1.94
5:00PM
1.91
Low Tide
/ height (m)
9:22AM
0.59
9:38PM
0.57
10:07AM
0.53
10:28PM
0.51
10:52AM
0.48
11:15PM
0.45
Monday
16
Tuesday
17
Wednesday
18
Thu
19
Sunrise--7:20-------7:22-------7:24-----
Sunset-----7:45-------7:43-------7:42--
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
clear
clear
clear
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
part cloud
Rain (mm)
------------------------
Temp. °C151416171716151515141617171616161717202121191514
Feels °C (?)141214141616141515131516161514151615191919171111
  • 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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