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Surf Forecasts:

Whale Watch Reef surfForecast / Kaikoura and Marlborough / New Zealand

information circle48hr Weather and Surf, issued 6 pm Tuesday 13 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
18.0° C
 (Which is 2.6°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 8PM is: 1.4m 6s primary swell from a North-northeast direction and 1.2m 6s secondary swell from a Northeast direction (forecast issued at 06:00pm January 13). An open ocean swell of 1.3m 10s is not directed at the surf break. The wind direction is predicted to be offshore and the swell rating is 2.

Time (NZDT) & DateWave HeightWave Period
Morning (13 Jan)--
Afternoon (13 Jan)3.5ft (1.1m)5s
Evening (13 Jan)4.5ft (1.3m)7s

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
Tuesday
13
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
Friday
16
4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM4 PM7 PM10 PM1 AM4 AM7 AM10 AM1 PM
Rating
(10 max)
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Swell
Height Map
See all maps
Wave Height (m) & direction (?)
1.1
NE
1.4
NNE
1.3
NE
0.7
ENE
0.9
ENE
0.8
ENE
0.8
ENE
0.8
ENE
0.7
ENE
0.6
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.4
ENE
0.4
E
0.9
ESE
1.2
E
1.4
ESE
0.1
E
0.1
E
2
ESE
2
ESE
1.9
ESE
1.8
ESE
1.6
ESE
Period(s) (?)66777778887773456111178887
Wave
Graph
(?)Metric surfscale
Energy kJ (?)8015514955766866645137212020326751262200000
Wind
(km/h)
10
SSE
15
SSW
15
SW
10
SSW
5
SSW
10
SSW
5
S
5
SSE
5
E
5
NE
5
NE
5
NE
5
ESE
15
ESE
20
ESE
20
SE
15
SSE
15
SSE
15
S
10
SSW
10
S
10
SSE
10
SSE
15
S
Wind State (?)
onshore
cross-onshore
cross-shore
cross-offshore
offshore
glassy
cross-
off		offoffcross-
off		offcross-
off		glassglasscross-
on		ononglassglasscrosscrosscrosscross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off		cross-
off
High Tide
/ height (m)
1:37PM
1.80
2:05AM
1.89
2:25PM
1.79
2:52AM
1.89
3:13PM
1.78
3:38AM
1.90
Low Tide
/ height (m)
7:48PM
0.68
8:29AM
0.75
8:30PM
0.70
9:15AM
0.75
9:14PM
0.70
9:58AM
0.74
Tuesday
13
Wednesday
14
Thursday
15
Friday
16
Sunrise-----6:03-------6:05-------6:05--
Sunset-9:02-------9:01-------9:01------
clear
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
cloud
light rain
cloud
light rain
light rain
light rain
mod rain
mod rain
mod rain
light rain
light rain
light rain
light rain
light rain
light rain
light rain
Rain (mm)
---------1-12361093111113
Temp. °C191917171615161616151514141415151514141414151514
Feels °C (?)181715151514161616141414141213131412121313141412
  • 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

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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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