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wairarapa
Do you want the ultimate challenge
of huge energised groundswells, powerful waves, and big barrels
trundling up steep shingle fan beaches?
There are heaps of unridden big wave ‘dragons’ to slay
over the hill from Wellington in the Wairarapa region. You just
need your surfboard, a tent, good mates and the desire to foot it
around this rugged coast to nail the big boomers. The access
roads are mainly loose gravel, and the weather is notoriously
changeable, but the rewards are found in consistently big wave
sets.
The excitement begins when you override your natural instincts
for self-protection and launch into either Palliser Bay at Lake
Ferry or Ning Nong Point and Ning Nong Reef (64 kms from
Featherston). These hot spots have an assortment of reef and
beach breaks which pump out good waves on all tides, and are
rated by some locals as the best surfing locations in the
Wellington region. Surfers can enjoy big southerly swells all
along this coast to Cape Palliser but be wary of undertows and
consult with locals where you can.
White Rock (48 kms from Martinborough) is widely acclaimed as a
‘monster’ wave location - a scaled-down New Zealand
equivalent of Hawaii’s Sunset Beach. It has the heaviest
surf conditions on this coast but provides you with a smorgasbord
of left and right-hand reef and beach breaks on all tides. South
of the road end is The Spit, which works well on an incoming tide
producing humungous barrel waves that can satisfy the most
discerning adrenalin junkies.
Tora is up the coast from White Rock and provides good
competition for the biggest wave title. The main breaks are
called Stix, Bombora, The Point and Shipwreck. These are all
heavy reef breaks pouring over hazardous rock shelves and boulder
banks and thus warrant a healthy respect for safety issues.
Riversdale (56 kms east of Masterton) offers pleasant breaks,
which are lower than most others on this coast and are rated for
fun rather than fury. Castlepoint (69 kms east of Masterton)
offers outstanding heavy beach breaks coming off a series of
sandbanks and is considered by many to be a top-class surfing
spot. The Reef, The Gap and Christmas Bay are the three best
breaks, all being quite powerful and challenging in heavy
groundswell conditions.
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