Whangamata Estuary Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright, Rusty here, and I gotta be straight with you... the outlook for our local stretch is a bit of a bummer. There's nothing in the 16-day window that's worth paddling out for. The entire forecast is a flat spell with not a single day offering anything surfable. We're looking at a solid run of no-go conditions from the start all the way through to the end of the month.

The water temp is sitting at 59.4° right now, which is bang on average for this time of year, so that's about the only thing that's not a letdown.

The first few days have tiny, weak dribbles with energy readings in the 20s and 30s (weak energy), and the swell direction is all over the place – from the north to the east – but the size is just pathetic. You'll see some glassy mornings, like Monday morning the 13th with a 1ft easterly puff and that 22 (weak energy) reading, and Wednesday morning the 15th with a 1.6ft northerly and 29 (weak energy). But it's all knee-high or less, and the wind is the only thing that's clean. It's a cruel tease.

Then, into the second week, we get a bit more wind, but it's all onshore or cross-onshore, and the swell barely gets a pulse. The biggest energy we see is on the 20th, with a 112 (moderate energy) reading Monday afternoon, but that's a 2ft northerly with a 15.5 mph ESE onshore wind. That's not surfing, that's a kite session if you're desperate. The swell is too short period at 8 seconds, and the conditions are choppy.

The end of the run, around the 28th of July, actually shows a bit of a spike. We get a 3.9ft NNE swell on Tuesday morning with a 100 (moderate energy) reading, and then Tuesday afternoon jumps to 5.2ft from the NNE with 212 (moderate energy). But the wind is onshore from the east at 12.4 mph, making it a messy, blown-out mess. The period is a short 6 seconds, so it's just a lumpy, wind-affected closeout. Not for paddle surfing.

The break itself is Whangamata Estuary, a beach/bar setup that's already inconsistent and a beginner spot. With the swell never getting clean or big enough, and the wind being a problem more often than not, there's just nothing to recommend. It's a long, flat, poor run. Sometimes it goes like this in this area, but forecasts can change. Let's hope the next one's got more to offer.

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