Whangamoa Surf Forecast and Surf Report

Alright folks, Rusty here. Let me level with you – if you've got your heart set on a proper surf around here over the next couple of weeks, you're gonna be fighting a losing battle. I've had a good look at what Whangamoa's got on offer, and it's a grim stretch. This is a sandbar setup, exposed to the northwest, and it's an inconsistent spot at the best of times. Right now, it's not even delivering that.

From Wednesday September 9th right through to the middle of the month, we're looking at tiny, gutless waves with poor surf conditions. Wednesday morning shows a tiny 1 ft from the northwest at a short 8 seconds – combined energy only 17 – and while the wind's glassy, it's just not enough to get excited about. That theme continues for days: flat spells, weak little 1.0 ft to 2 ft pulses, mostly cross or onshore breezes. Nothing worth paddling out for. There's a patch of total flatness from Thursday 10th through to Tuesday 15th where the energy drops to zero for long stretches.

We finally see a bit of a pulse around Wednesday 16th – 4 ft from the NNW at 8 seconds, combined energy 205 – but it's blowing moderate cross-shore and the conditions are labelled poor. Thursday 17th brings a longer-period 14-second groundswell, but with fresh cross-onshore winds up to 19 mph, it's messy and lumpy. Then Friday 18th morning has a clean bit of cross-offshore wind but only 1 ft – not worth it. The afternoon brings a 2 ft long-period 17-second swell (energy 309) but again cross-shore chop spoils it.

The real kicker comes on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th – we've got serious size: 10 ft to 12 ft from the northwest, energy readings pushing into the thousands (1032 and 1829). But the wind is howling cross-onshore at 25–28 mph. That's not surfable for paddle surfing – you'd need a kite to have fun out there. Even then, it's messy. The following Monday 21st morning offers the best chance you'll see all forecast: 5 ft from the NNW at 10 seconds, energy 509, with a gentle cross-onshore breeze. The score is only a 2 out of 10 – marginal at best, and tide could mess it up. After that, it fades again into tiny slop and flatness through to the end of the period.

So to be straight with you: there are no good surf options in this 16‑day window. Whangamoa is an inconsistent break, and this run of poor conditions is pretty typical for the area when the swell windows don't align. The only faint glimmer is that Monday 21st morning – if you're desperate and the tide lines up, you might find a few weak, choppy rides. But don't get your hopes up. Forecasts can change, but right now I'd be leaving the boards at home.

– Rusty

Read more