Best surf spots in Marlborough / Nelson

A steep stony bay on the edge of the Marlborough Sounds where a fast right-hander fires in the corner on its day, reached over the long winding Port Underwood Road and rarely shared with more than a handful.

A shifty sandy beach break and river mouth on the open coast north of Nelson, well off the tourist trail. Punchy peaks scatter up and down the beach, and it holds swell when the city beaches go flat.

Right-hand point breaks on the famous Nelson Boulder Bank, the 13 km granite spit that shelters Nelson Haven. An obscure local wave that needs real knowledge and only wakes up when a solid swell pushes into sheltered Tasman Bay.

A soft, fat, long left-hander that peels onto sand at the west end of Tasman Bay, among the friendliest and most forgiving longboard waves in the top of the south when a solid N swell finally finds the bay.

Marlborough's home break, a right-hander peeling off the shingle bar at the mouth of the Big Lagoon. It takes a solid swell to wake up, but when it does the locals have it to themselves.