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Goin to Aukland, New Zealand next semester to massey university. (Raglan is 2 hrs away!) anyone been in that area???? ive checked out wannasurf and everything but want to hear from people who have actually been there.

Ha…you’re lucky!

There are literally a TON of places to surf in NZ.

Have been to North Island two times in the past two years. Beautiful place, but Auckland kind of sucks (I don’t much care for cities). I didn’t get to spend much time surfing while I was there. Only once on my second trip this past February did I manage to surf at Piha Beach, which is a beautiful (as in picturesque) beach break. Waves were kind of thumpy there, too. Piha is about an hour from Auckland city centre on the west coast. It is a popular surfing beach. Not much in the way of accommodations there, however I’m pretty sure you can camp out. I stayed in an old camper that a guy rented to me for NZ$40/night. I think he had 6 or 8 such units for rent. I scored two days at Piha and really only got to surf one of them. First day was sizable, maybe 5-7’ or so and chunky. Surfed for three or four hours, with maybe 10 other people out, in warm water (in late February). Next day the swell bumped up and was pushing double-O with a bit more power. Nobody else out, completely empty lineup. Tried the paddle out 3x and each time, just as I thought I was going to make it out back, a huge set reared it’s ugly head and just completely ragdolled back to the inside.

I did drive to Raglan and it is truly an incredible point break, but it was 100% flat while I was there (and the wind onshore to boot). Lots of no-trespassing signs here, lots of nice homes along the point. Access, I suspect, is kind of tricky. I will go back and spend weeks at this spot someday, however. It is just too nice of a setup.

All of my quests to the east coast were thwarted by traffic and horrible weather. I very much wanted to try the outer bar at Whangamata but never got there. Part of the beauty of NZ, with regards to surfers/surfing is that you can travel between the east and west coasts in a few hours time.

Never been to South Island.

There are some very good books out there you should look into. Just Googled ‘NZ surfing books’ and “A Guide to Surfriding in New Zealand” is the title of one of them. Check Amazon or even magic seaweed; should be less than $20. Sounds like it gives plenty of details for quite a few spots, on both north and south islands. I have a good book that I bought at the airport in Auckland after my first trip (I couldn’t surf on that trip). I am not sure if it is the same and I can’t find any info about it online and I don’t have it handy right now to see. The one I have gives tons of info on spots, with maps and directions to them, optimal tide and wind directions and also bottom contours.

Enjoy your time in New Zealand, it is a remarkable place in the world.

Sounds awesome... the college i am going to is outside aukland on the north shore. I can kind of tell that to get good consistent surf I will have to drive at least a half hour, which I am very willing to do everyday. I am gunna check out some of those books you were talking about and hopefully find some other people at my school to surf with. I am just real excited to get out of nj and have a good time. I want to try and visit some south pacific islands that are relatively close to nz (if you have any suggestions about that it would be great)..
Thanks for the info,
-Bill

my buddy just sent me a picture of Raglan...looks amazing!! he said the surfers of the most down to earth people he ever met... i dont think hes coming back either now because of the scene there.. im about to pack my bags and go

Aukland is an amazing city. If I had my choice of places to live it would be in the Ponsonby-area. Ponsonby is Auklands answer to the East Village and Williamsburg, without the annoying trustafarian hipster types. Instead the bohemian culture is legit with great restaurants, galleries and places to see local bands. The local music scene was a lot like NYC/Boston circa mid-90s with a ton of good rock & roll (ie: Devil Dogs, DGeneration, New Bomb Turks, Lyres, etc).

The closest surf is Piha. It's a sandbar break around Lion's Rock. A beautiful setting but kinda dumpy and windy when I was there. The drive through the Whengateri is amazing. We had better luck at Sunset Beach near Port Waitako (Waitako Rivermouth). It is one of those point into sandbar setups that just kept working. It's 45 minutes from Aukland and on the way to Raglan.

We also surfed Whenga and got it okay, but we got Hot Water Beach's perfectly groomed sandbars absolutely going off. Did the campervan thing, which is fun.

ahh cant wait sounds so sick... 3 more weeks till i go. I am going from feb 13th to june 20th. what kind of rubber should I bring, I may want to travel around a bit and i know the south island gets cold.