Whangamata Bar Surf Forecast and Surf Report

G’day, Rusty here in imperial. Let’s be straight with you: the next fortnight and a bit is a tough stretch for the waves around here. We’ve got a long dry spell to get through before anything worth paddling out for shows up.

Kicking off Tuesday the 11th of August, Whangamata Bar (Whangamata) has a tiny 3ft swell from the NNE with a short 8-second period and weak wave energy (113). It’s glassy in the morning, which is nice, but the conditions are pretty ordinary and the surf is just too small and weak to get excited about. Forget the afternoon as the wind swings onshore and spoils it even more. Honestly, for the next week it’s a write-off – day after day of onshore slop, rain, and messy wind. The swell tries to push to 6ft on Thursday the 13th, but it’s accompanied by gusty onshore winds and heavy rain, making it a total mess. Not worth it for a paddle.

There’s a glimmer of hope around Sunday the 16th when the wind turns cross-offshore and the swell cleans up a bit, but the waves are still tiny – 3ft to 3ft – and the energy is weak to moderate at best (152 to 221). It’s surfable but very ordinary, and you’ll be scratching for scraps. The best of this slim pickings is Monday the 17th morning, with a clean 3ft, 11-second period groundswell from the E and a light cross-off breeze. That 11-second period gives the waves a bit more shape, but with combined energy at 180, it’s still nothing to write home about. Tuesday the 18th morning is similar, with a clean 3ft, 10-second swell.

After that, it’s a long, painful drop-off. From Wednesday the 19th right through to the end of the forecast on Monday the 24th, the swell fades to next to nothing – 2ft or less – and the energy plummets into single or low double digits. Winds are clean enough at times, but there’s simply no wave to ride. Even a longer period spike to 13 seconds on the 22nd and 23rd can’t save it because the swell height is a pathetic 0.5ft.

If you zoom out, there’s one standout, and it’s a reluctant one. The best bet in this entire 16-day window is Monday morning, 17th of August. The swell is 3ft from the E, with a solid 11-second period for a bit of push, and WSW winds at 9 mph blowing cross-offshore, keeping it clean. The water temp is about average for the time of year. This is a break that can get crowded sometimes, so you might have company, and it’s inconsistent – it doesn’t always fire. But if the forecast holds, it’s your one shot at a half-decent session. Just don’t expect anything overhead or with real punch. Everything else is either blown out or flat.

Sorry, mate, this is a lean run. The ocean’s just not cooperating for now. But forecasts can change, so don’t write it off completely.

Rusty.

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