Whangamata Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, let’s be real here, folks. Rusty here, and I’ve looked over what we’ve got for the next couple of weeks. Honestly, it’s a pretty bleak stretch for Whangamata Bar. We’re staring down a long, long gap with basically nothing worth paddling out for, so don’t bother waxing up just yet.

We start off on Sunday the 23rd of August, and it’s a total non-starter. Swell is a pathetic 0.3 ft from the NE with a weak energy reading (10), and the wind is a messy cross-off. That sets the tone for the whole first week. We’ve got day after day of tiny, weak waves – we’re talking 0.3 ft to 1.0 ft mostly, with energy readings barely cracking double digits. The wind is often cross-off or offshore, which would be great if there was any swell to work with, but there just isn’t. The water temp is sitting at 58°, which is pretty much spot-on average for this time of year, so at least you won’t freeze while you’re sitting there waiting for a wave that never comes.

This flat spell just drags on and on. We finally see a tiny flicker of life on Saturday the 29th of August. The swell bumps up to a whole 2 ft from the NNE with energy hitting 86, and for a brief moment in the afternoon we get glassy conditions. The score says “surfable,” but let’s be honest, that’s a generous way to describe 2 ft waves. It’s better than nothing, but it’s hardly a standout.

Sunday the 30th offers more of the same – 2 ft from the NE with a period of 9 seconds, and offshore wind in the afternoon. It’s clean, but it’s small. The energy is moderate (56-71), but you’d have to be desperate for a splash.

Then it’s back to the doldrums. From Monday the 31st of August all the way through to Sunday the 7th of September, we’re stuck in a rut of 1 ft to 2 ft waves. The wind is often offshore or cross-off, keeping the surface clean, but the swell just doesn’t have any guts. Energy readings stay in the weak-to-low moderate range (20 to 96). There’s one brief moment on Friday the 4th of September where the swell bumps to 4 ft from the E, but it’s short-period (6 seconds) and messy, and the wind is cross-off. It’s still a “poor surf conditions” call.

The only time we see anything with a bit of grunt is on Saturday the 5th of September. The swell hits 4 ft from the ENE, and the energy pushes into the moderate range (114 to 120). That’s the biggest we get. But here’s the kicker – the period is a weak 6-7 seconds, and the wind is cross-off. For a beach/bar setup like Whangamata Bar, that short-period, wind-affected swell is going to be a mess. Honestly, with that kind of wind and those conditions, this setup might be more interesting for the kite crew than for a surfer on a paddle board.

So what’s the best on offer? I can’t in good conscience call anything a true standout. If you had to pick a window, the glassy Saturday 29th afternoon or the clean Sunday 30th afternoon are your best bets, but you’re surfing tiny waves. The swell on the 5th has the most size, but the quality is going to be poor.

To sum it up: we’ve got a massive gap of nothing for the first week, a couple of barely-surfable small days at the end of August, and then another long gap of tiny, weak surf into the first week of September. This is a tough one. It tends not to stay this poor forever, but right now, it’s a waiting game.

Rusty.

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