Plan a NZ surf trip
Hand-curated round-trip routes across the North and South Islands. Day trips, weekenders, multi-day missions and grand tours. More coming as we add them.
Te Ārai Day Trip
Auckland / Rodney
The classic Auckland day-trip surf: 60 minutes north of the city to the Aotearoa Surf home base at Te Ārai Point, with Forestry as the wind-shelter back-up. Beginner-friendly to advanced surfers all find their wave.
Raglan Classic Weekender
Waikato / Raglan
Two days at NZ's most iconic left-hand points. Manu Bay headline session, Indicators if you're ready for the walk, Ngarunui for the warm-up. Ruapuke as the Plan B when the points are onshore.
Coromandel Circuit (5 Day)
Coromandel
Five days circumnavigating the Coromandel Peninsula: Whangamatā's iconic Bar, Hot Water Beach's geothermal combo, the empty Whangapoua / New Chums, plus Pauanui, Tairua, Matarangi and Otama. Surf-camping at its best.
North Island East Coast Surf Tour (7 Day)
Coromandel · Bay of Plenty · Gisborne / East Cape
Seven days from Auckland down the east coast through the Coromandel points, the Bay of Plenty headline beaches, and the East Cape SH35 wilderness. The classic North Island east-coast pilgrimage.
Wild West Day Trip
Auckland West
Auckland's heavy-hitting west coast in a day: Piha's famous peaks in the morning, Muriwai's long black-sand walls in the afternoon. This is powerful, demanding surf for confident surfers. If the west is maxed out or you want something gentler, Orewa on the east coast is 40 minutes from the city.
Northland East Weekender
Northland East · Auckland / Rodney
The east coast heartland an hour north of Auckland: Mangawhai's bar, Te Arai's groomed sandbanks, Waipu Cove and Ruakaka beyond. Forgiving white-sand beach breaks that suit everyone from first-timers to loggers chasing runners, with proper surf-town infrastructure the whole way.
Far North Explorer
Auckland / Rodney · Northland East · Northland West
Five days looping the top of the country, starting with a warm-up at Te Arai where the Aotearoa Surf team can set you up with lessons and rental gear for the week (drop it back on the way home). Then the Tutukaka coast's sandy coves, Matauri and Taupo Bay's point setups, the empty east beaches of the Far North, over to Ahipara where Shipwreck Bay peels along the bottom of Ninety Mile Beach, and home down the wild Hokianga side. Two coasts with opposite swell windows, so something is almost always working.
Surf Highway 45
Taranaki / SH45
The original NZ surf road trip: 105 kilometres of coast wrapped around the mountain, with a reef, rivermouth or beach break facing every direction. City surf at Fitzroy, the legendary Stent Road reef, Opunake's friendly bay and the raw lava points between. When one side is onshore, drive twenty minutes and it is offshore.
Bay of Plenty Day Trip
Bay of Plenty
Town and country in one day: morning peaks at the Mount with the summit track above you, then forty five minutes east to Matata's lava-reef lefts where the crowd thins to nothing. The Bay turns on in cyclone season when long-period east swell wraps in.
Wairarapa Coast Weekender
Wellington / Wairarapa
Three days on the empty east coast over the Remutakas: Tora's remote reef and beach setups, Castlepoint's dramatic reef under the lighthouse, and Riversdale's long beach banks. Gravel roads, no shops, no crowds. This is the coast Wellington surfers keep quiet about.
Gisborne Surf City Weekender
Gisborne / East Cape
A weekend in the surfiest city in New Zealand, where first light hits the water before anywhere else. Wainui's banks stretch for kilometres ten minutes from town, the Pipe barrels when the swell lines up, and Tolaga Bay's long walls wait up the coast for Sunday. Warm water by NZ standards, waves every single day.
East Cape Pilgrimage
Gisborne / East Cape
Five days around the most remote surf coast in the North Island: out of Gisborne and up SH35 past Tolaga and Loisels to Te Araroa under the East Cape lighthouse, where the sun rises on empty points before anywhere else on earth. Petrol stations are scarce, surf shops do not exist, and that is exactly the point. Fill up, stock up, slow down.
Hawke's Bay Day Trip
Hawke's Bay
Art deco city surf done in a day: Awatoto's shingle-bank peaks just south of Napier, then around the bay to Te Awanga where the rivermouth shapes proper walls with Cape Kidnappers on the horizon. Short drives, easy parking, wineries on the way home.
Mahia Weekender
Hawke's Bay
Three days on the East Coast's swell magnet. The Mahia peninsula bends every swell around its two coasts, so one side is nearly always offshore: rolling points and reefs on the north side, raw beach power on the open side, and Wairoa's rivermouth on the way up. Rocket launches optional.
Kapiti Coast Day Trip
Wellington / Wairarapa
The capital's after-work coast strung into a day: Titahi Bay's reliable corners twenty minutes from town, Paekakariki's peaks under the escarpment, and Otaki's rivermouth banks with Kapiti Island floating offshore. None of it is world-famous, all of it is fun, and the wind decides the running order.
Great Barrier Island Escape
Auckland / Rodney
Aotea Great Barrier: a 30 minute flight or 4.5 hour ferry from Auckland, then three days off the grid on the island's wild east coast. Awana and Okiwi pull in every east swell with rarely more than a handful of surfers between them, and the night sky is a certified Dark Sky Sanctuary. No supermarkets, no streetlights, no reason to hurry home.
Waikato West Day Trip
Waikato / Raglan
The quiet alternative to the Raglan pilgrimage: Port Waikato's black-sand rivermouth peaks an hour from Auckland, then the gravel back roads to Ruapuke, a wild stretch most surfers drive straight past on their way to the points. Big skies, west coast power, and barely a leash in sight.
Catlins Surf Escape Weekender
Catlins / Southland
Three days down the wild Catlins coast. Empty beaches, big swell exposure, and one of NZ's most underrated surf coasts. Bring the 4/3, the boots, and the patience for a long weekend you'll remember.
Kaikoura Coast Day Trip
Kaikoura / North Canterbury
The most famous mile of point surf in the South Island, two and a half hours from Christchurch. Mangamaunu's long mechanical rights, Meatworks' boulder-bottom walls next door, snow-capped Kaikouras behind and seals in the lineup. Worth every kilometre when a south or east swell is running.
Banks Peninsula Weekender
Canterbury
City surf to volcanic wilderness in one weekend. Saturday at Sumner and Taylors Mistake, ten minutes from the city, then over the hill to Hickory Bay's booming beach break and Magnet Bay's long left point on the peninsula's far side. The contrast is the whole point.
West Coast Wilderness
West Coast South Island
Over Arthur's Pass and down the wildest coastline in the country: Greymouth's rivermouth walls, Punakaiki's beach breaks under the pancake rocks, Okarito's glacier-country peaks and finally Jackson Bay at the end of the road, where the Southern Alps fall straight into the Tasman. Big skies, no crowds, sandflies with a work ethic.
Dunedin Peninsula Weekender
Dunedin / Otago
The deep-south surf city done properly: St Clair's esplanade peaks and hot saltwater pool, Aramoana's world-class spit on a south swell, and the Otago Peninsula's hidden sand bays where sea lions outnumber surfers. Cold water, warm scene.
Southern Scenic Grand Tour
Dunedin / Otago · Catlins / Southland
Seven days down the Southern Scenic Route from Dunedin to the bottom of the world: city surf, then the Catlins' waterfall coast where points and rivermouth bars hide between podocarp forest and penguin beaches, finishing at Riverton and Colac Bay, the southernmost surf towns in the country. Thick wetsuit, low expectations of crowds, high expectations of everything else.
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