South Beach
Otago · New Zealand
Rating right now
South Beach is a SE-facing sand beach on the New Zealand shoreline, opening onto the Tasman Sea — it catches E–S swell, and offshore W–N winds tidy the banks through october–april.
Today's surf at South Beach
Updated 17:27 spot time
South Beach surf report for Friday 2 Oct: waves 0.6 m–1.0 m chest to head high, 0.4 m NE swell at 4.25 s. Wind up to 29 km/h SW. Water 11°C. Best surf window around 14:00 — fun (2.5/5) with 11 km/h SSE wind.
Snapshot refreshed hourly — the live hourly forecast below updates in real time.
10-day forecast
Local time · updates hourly
Wave height & period
Wind
| Time | Rating | Waves | Swell | Wind | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Water temperature by month
This month: ~11.1°C (52°F) on average
Jan
14.3°C
57.7°F · 10.5–17.1°C
Feb
14.7°C
58.5°F · 13.2–18.8°C
Mar
14.4°C
57.9°F · 13–17°C
Apr
13.3°C
55.9°F · 11.8–15.1°C
May
12.2°C
54°F · 10.3–14.3°C
Jun
10.9°C
51.6°F · 9.5–13°C
Jul
10.1°C
50.2°F · 8.8–12.3°C
Aug
9.8°C
49.6°F · 8.1–11°C
Sep
10.5°C
50.9°F · 9.5–11.5°C
Oct
11.1°C
52°F · 9.4–12.9°C
Nov
12.5°C
54.5°F · 11–14.9°C
Dec
13.4°C
56.1°F · 11.7–15.2°C
25-year monthly averages from the NOAA OISST satellite record — typical range min–max, not a live reading.
Know before you go
Best swell
E–S
Best wind
W–N
Break type
Beach break
Best season
October–April
Safety: Friendly by surf standards, but rip currents and drop-in etiquette still apply. Shifting sandbars create moving rip currents — learn to spot them and use them to get out back.
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