Onoke / Lake Ferry

Lake Ferry, Onoke, is a river-mouth bar break where Lake Onoke drains across a gravel beach into Palliser Bay, banking up a shifting bar that can throw fast, hollow, board-breaking barrels when it lines up. It is heavy and famously changeable, an advanced-to-expert wave that needs a S or SE swell (it will take some SW), a NE offshore and a mid-to-high rising tide to fire, and it reforms with every lake flood. On its day it is a genuine barrel, and off form it closes out over the stones. As the locals put it, when it is on, expect broken boards.

The lake mouth is the heart of it, a renowned whitebaiting and fishing spot, but a dangerous one, since the outlet current has claimed lives, so it is not a place to swim or wade casually. Watching over it is the Lake Ferry Hotel, licensed since 1851 and one of New Zealand's oldest pubs, famous for fish and chips and whitebait fritters and a deck that looks across the bar to the South Island at sunset. There is a council-run holiday park with toilets and showers, fuel and a store at Pirinoa just six kilometres back, and it is only about 30 minutes from Martinborough. It is the gateway to the Cape Palliser run.

• It needs the bar to line up on a S or SE swell, a NE offshore and a mid-to-high rising tide, so check it in person, because it changes daily.
• Treat it as an expert wave with real consequences, heavy and hollow over a shallow gravel bar.
• Stay clear of the lake outlet, a known drowning spot that sits separate from the surf peak.
• Time it with the pub and the cape, with fish and chips at the 1851 Lake Ferry Hotel and then the Cape Palliser loop past Ngawi, the seals and the Pinnacles.

• The lake-mouth rip is the one to fear, because where Lake Onoke drains the outlet current is strong and has drowned people, so treat the mouth with serious respect.
• The wave carries board-breaking power over a shallow gravel bar, with sucky, hollow takeoffs.
• A sweep toward Cook Strait can carry you out and along on the rips and undertow, so know your exits.
• The bar is fickle and shifting, closing out when it is off-form, so it is a check-before-you-paddle wave.
• A small, committed local crew surfs here, so show respect.

Getting there

About 30 minutes from Martinborough or Featherston and roughly 90 minutes from Wellington, on a sealed road all the way to the village. Park near the Lake Ferry Hotel and walk along the beach to the bar.

Parking

Parking by the Lake Ferry Hotel and the lake foreshore, then a short walk along the beach to the river-mouth peak.

Toilets & showers

Toilets, showers, a communal kitchen and laundry at Lake Ferry Holiday Park. The Lake Ferry Hotel is the other hub.

Shops, cafes & fuel

The historic Lake Ferry Hotel (licensed since 1851) does fish and chips, whitebait and meals. The nearest shop and fuel are the Pirinoa Country Store, only about 6 km away. Martinborough, 30 minutes on, has full supplies.

Accommodation

Lake Ferry Hotel rooms, cabins and villas, plus the council-owned Lake Ferry Holiday Park (cabins, powered and lakefront sites). A mix of permanent and holiday baches in the village.

Camping

Lake Ferry Holiday Park is the camping base, lakeside, so supervise children. Check the South Wairarapa freedom-camping bylaw for the Lake Domain reserve classification before freedom camping; the holiday park is the safe default.