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New Zealand Surfing Information
Award winning New Zealand surf site - great site with heaps of information about all aspects of New Zealand surfing
Surf 2 surf
I don't know much about this site but it has good information on Raglan and Piha. I have linked to the report page which has a well located camera overlooking Manu bay (we will wait and see how long it operates for).
New Zealand Virtual Wave Buoys
The format for this service has changed but it still provides some predictive ability if you account for all the other required variables such as the direction of the swell and wind relative to the direction the beach/break faces etc etc. You should also note that the predictive model it uses doesn't seem to account for tropical cyclones very well (so check the cyclone sites as well).
New Zealand Buoy Reports:
The South Pacific wave model provide actual wave height and directions for whole of New Zealand with five day predictions. Also includes global information which is worthwhile checking to help determine the traffic from the Indian Ocean.
Coastal Marine Forecasts
Provide links to the 24 hour swell forecasts for the major coastal areas around New Zealand. Again remember this is a forecast and is subject to error - this site also links back to the Met Service Homepage
Basic New Zealand weather map
This site provides some basic information which includes a weather map
Seven day isobar model
National centres for environmental prediction - provides isobar map forecasts for 7 days.
South Pacific wave map
Animated 5 day forecast wave map - a bit difficult to follow as the dates change, but it gives you a rough idea of what is happening
Tropical cyclones
The coverage of this site is a bit limited however more information can be found from the University of Hawai. Further information can be found from this unisys site
New Zealand Tides
This site provides two different options for determining the tide times throughout coastal New Zealand
NIWA camera sites
National institure of water and atmospheric research beach site web cams. Other camera sites include Mount Manganui Assault wavecam , Piha and the windsurfing and surfing webcams at nzsports.com
Raglan
Some brief information on the best surfing in New Zealand. There is very little information on Raglan (or Rags) because the xenophobic locals like it that way - more waves for them. You have to check this place out, but beware of the rocks (especially the outcrop at Whale bay) and make sure you know the local etiquette (locals rule). I believe the best time to surf here is during the Winter (more consistant Southwesterlies), the crowds are less (it can get very busy in Summer), and it's not really that cold (well compared to Dunedin anyway - I surfed all winter in a 2/3 and only pulled out my 4/3 and booties a couple of times)
When it pumps, this place will become packed (especially Summer) making it difficult to get any waves if you aren't good and/or a local. All major sites except for the Beach-breaks at Wainui are left-hand point (reef) breaks. Local legend has it if your a hell ripper when its really barrelling you can get from outside "outsides" into whale bay, this apparently is a distance greater than 1 mile (Mark Stockman (from the Gag surfshop in Rags) recently told me someone made it from Indicators to Manu Bay). If your from out of town and snake the locals (especially at Indicators or outsides) then don't be surprised if someone ends up sitting on you or your car and most importantly if your on a Mal then it's probably best not to surf Indies.
Finally the West Coast swell can be a bit deceptive in appearance. If your not very competent then I would be very careful when it get's over 6 foot (especially on low tide). Last year 6 people had to be rescued in a 3-4 day period from Manu bay and the police tried to close the beach?????? (PS yesterday two septics got picked up way out the back of Manu bay)
Whangamata
We have a Crib (Bach) there - flat a lot of the time (with absolutely minimal groundwell) however when it comes up, its worth making the trip. The waves are usually softer and slower than the westcoast (Piha & Raglan) which means a large number of mals, which can make it difficult to pick up waves if your on a short board. The left hand bar break works well but can get crowded very quickly, there are usually a couple of good beach breaks and the estuary, while fickle, can also provide some good opportunities. Like the Mount (Maunganui), Whangamata is probably best out of the Holliday period when your not going up with 10 others and dodging the 100 coming out (You thought the city beaches in Perth were crowded you should see this place between 27th Dec - 7th Jan). Generally the locals are pretty relaxed and the atmospheres pretty friendly. Going by the last couple of years the best swell seems to be found from february to april. Whangamata is also close to a large number of other good sites (where the surf can often be up to 1 foot bigger) such as Hot Water Beach, Tairua, Opoutere, Whiritoa, Onemana, etc etc.
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