Old Man's Hat Surf Forecast and Surf Reports

(Gisborne and Mahia, New Zealand)

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- Hourly Forecast
- 12 Day Forecast
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Weather State
Spot Info

Old Man's Hat Surf Guide

Old Man's Hat in Gisborne and Mahia is a fairly exposed reef break that has unreliable waves with no particular seasonal pattern. The best wind direction is from the southwest and there is no shelter here from cross shore breezes. Still reasonable in light onshore winds Tends to receive distant groundswells and the best swell direction is from the east. There is no reef break. Best around mid tide. Rarely crowded here. Rocks are a hazard.

Old Man's Hat Spot Info

Type:	Rating:
Reef
Reliability:	Todays Sea Temp*:
inconsistent	16.6°C*ocean temperature recorded from satellite

Surfing Old Man's Hat:

The best conditions reported for surf at Old Man's Hat occur when a East swell combines with an offshore wind direction from the Southwest.

Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

7 Day Forecast

What's the best time of year to surf Old Man's Hat (for consistent clean waves)?

mayBest Season: winter

The best time of year for surfing Old Man's Hat with consistent clean waves (rideable swell with light / offshore winds) is during Winter and most often the month of May. Clean surfable waves are typically found 16% of the time in May while 22% of the time it tends to be blown out. For the remaining 62% of the time it is considered too small by most surfers but may still be OK for beginners and groms at times.

clean

16%

Surfable waves that hold up well for longer rides in prevailing cross-offshore, offshore or light wind conditions.

blown out

22%

Surfable sized waves that are of poorer quality due to prevailing onshore, cross-onshore or windy conditions (may be preferable for kitesurfing).

too small

62%

Waves usually considered too small for good surf. Some wave-magnet breaks may still work though if conditions are right (on occasion).

Explore Old Man's Hat Location Map

Interactive Old Man's Hat surf break location map. View information about nearby surf breaks, their wave consistency and rating compared to other spots in the region. Current swell conditions from local buoys are shown along with live wind speed and direction from nearby weather stations. Click icons on the map for more detail. The closest passenger airport to Old Man's Hat is Gisborne Airport (GIS) in New Zealand, 47 km (29 miles) away (directly). The second nearest airport to Old Man's Hat is Whakatane Airport (WHK), also in New Zealand, 156 km (97 miles) away.

Break

Live Wave Height (m)

Live Wind Speed (km/h)

Please note that some surf spot locations are approximate to protect their exact location while others are not shown at close zoom level.

Old Man's Hat Surf Forecasts:

Hourly Forecast

7 Day Forecast

Todays Surf Summary
Tuesday, 18 May 2021, 02:00 Local Time

m, °C	Tuesday 18
ft, °F	3AM	6AM	9AM	12PM
Wave (m)	E	E	E	E
Period (s)	11	10	10	10
Wind (km/h)
Wind State	cross- off	cross	cross- off	cross- off

What does Old Man's Hat look like?

Latest photos from Old Man's Hat. Upload your own or view all photos on the gallery page.

Credit: Rob Davies
Credit: Rob Davies

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Tides at Old Man's Hat

Current tide and informaton

For Aurora Point, 7.0 km from Old Man's Hat.

Next High Water: 10:28am | 1.29m

Next Low Water: 04:25am | 0.3m

NEXT	IS AT (local time)	remaining
high tide
low tide

Old Man's Hat Sea Temperature

The Old Man's Hat water temperature is rather cool (16.6 °C) and the air temperature will feel about the same. A good quality spring wetsuit with optional neoprene boots should suffice. No need for wetsuit gloves.

Today, many surfers would wear a spring wetsuit and neoprene boots.