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Surf Forecasts:

Whale Watch Reef surfForecast / Kaikoura and Marlborough / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 12 am Wednesday 28 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
16.9° 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 3AM is: 0.2m 13s primary swell from a East-northeast direction (forecast issued at 12:00am January 28). An open ocean swell of 1.5m 9s is not directed at the surf break, a second open ocean swell of 0.5m 11s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be glassy.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (28 Jan)1ft (0.3m)12s
Afternoon (28 Jan)1.5ft (0.4m)12s
Evening (28 Jan)3ft (0.9m)5s

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

Updates in  hr  min  s Forecast update imminent 
12 DaysHourly
Print Table
Wednesday
28
Thursday
29
Friday
30
10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM
Rating
(10 max)
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.7
S
1.6
S
0.2
ENE
0.2
ENE
0.3
ENE
1
NE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
1.2
NE
0.9
NE
0.8
NE
0.9
NE
0.7
NE
0.7
NE
0.8
NNE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.3
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.6
ENE
0.6
ENE
0.6
ENE
Period(s) (?)101013131241211556666610109121211111111
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)0017173032444176495156384343313129294451979390
Wind
(km/h)
0
ENE
5
NE
5
NNE
15
NNE
20
NE
15
ENE
10
ENE
5
SSE
5
W
5
W
5
WNW
5
NW
10
S
5
ENE
15
NE
5
E
10
SSW
20
SSW
10
S
5
ESE
10
E
15
ENE
15
ENE
15
ENE
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
glassonglassononononglasscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		crosscross-
off		cross-
on		onglassoffcross-
off		cross-
off		glasscross-
on		cross-
on		cross-
on		on
High Tide
/ height (m)
12:42AM
2.00
1:11PM
1.93
1:40AM
2.05
2:09PM
1.95
2:37AM
2.09
3:07PM
1.98
Low Tide
/ height (m)
7:03AM
0.53
7:26PM
0.44
8:03AM
0.49
8:19PM
0.41
9:00AM
0.43
Wednesday
28
Thursday
29
Friday
30
Sunrise---6:20-------6:22-------6:24----
Sunset-------8:52-------8:52-------8:51
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
clear
part cloud
part cloud
part cloud
cloud
part cloud
clear
cloud
cloud
part cloud
clear
part cloud
clear
clear
Rain (mm)
------------------------
Temp. °C141414141718202019201817202122211915141415161615
Feels °C (?)141314121416192119201716192020211812131313131312
  • Map Icons:
  • Break
  • Live Wave Height (m)
  • Live Wind Speed (km/h)
  • Surf Rating (10 Max)
  • Ocean Swells (m)
  • Wind Speed (km/h)
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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.

View detailed surf forecast for Whale Watch Reef at:
surf-forecast.com

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