Best surf spots in Kaikoura / North Canterbury

A world class right-hand point that reels for several hundred metres over cobble and boulder, with the snow-dusted Seaward Kaikōura Range dropping almost to the sea behind the lineup. For many surfers it is the whole reason to drive to Kaikōura.

The most reliable wave on the Kaikōura coast, a powerful boulder and reef A-frame that throws fast rights and lefts and keeps producing on a south swell when the rest of the district has gone flat.

A short right point and reef on the lonely coast where SH1 leaves the sea between Kaikoura and Blenheim, with sandy beach peaks beside it and The Store right on the doorstep for a coffee while you read the lineup.

A remote North Canterbury beach with a quality left hand point tucked under a rocky headland, the kind of empty long lefts you earn by walking across a working farm to reach the water.

One of the most consistent beach breaks in Canterbury, a sandy bay that throws up punchy peaks and the odd barrel, with a right-hand point waiting at the southern end when the swell lines up.

A quiet North Canterbury fishing settlement that hides real variety: a forgiving beach break off the river mouth, left and right reefs for the more experienced, and rarely surfed waves out around Motunau Island for anyone with a boat.