Piha Alert Guide

Auckland, New Zealand · part of the Piha spot guide

Piha is forecast-only — the nearest wave buoy is thousands of km away — so this is a model-swell alert. At this exposed Tasman beach the breaking face runs comparable to the open-ocean height below, not well under it.

The forecaster's checklist

1. 1.Want swell from the southwest through west (about 210–330°), with southwest around 225° the money direction; a south-only swell often means wind problems too.
2. 2.Look for period of about 12 seconds or more — long-period southwest organises the banks and adds power, short windswell is messy.
3. 3.Judge size honestly: open-ocean height around one-to-two metres gives a fun three-to-six-foot face, over three metres is expert-only, favouring the South Piha channels.
4. 4.Score an east-quadrant offshore (east best, southeast and northeast okay) and avoid a southerly; chase the clean morning before the sea breeze, especially February to April.
5. 5.Pick your side by size and wind, and treat the rips as knowing paddle-out channels — this is a strong-rip beach with a real safety story.

Local winds & tide

Best wind: E quadrant offshore (E best; avoid S) — from 45° to 135° (NE–SE).

Works on all tides with break-specific tuning — high or rising suits the Lion Rock and north peaks, lower tide the South Piha lefts, and higher water softens the shorebreak on bigger days.

Dial it in