NZ Beach Dashboard
Is it a good day at the beach? Pick one of New Zealand’s swimming spots and we’ll tell you the water temperature, wave height, UV level, wind, and an overall “go or no-go” score for today and the next three days.
Pick a beach
Today at
Conditions right now
UV index and burn time
Tide today (approx.)
Next 3 days
Water quality
We don’t pull live E. coli readings yet. For the official swimming-suitability grade at this beach — based on long-term water-quality monitoring — check the LAWA “Can I Swim Here?” dashboard. After heavy rain, most NZ beaches carry a 48-hour caution regardless of weather — runoff is the main water-quality issue.
How the score works
Out of 100, based on five things that actually matter at the beach: wave height (bigger than 1.2m pulls the score hard), water temperature (below 16°C starts to hurt), wind speed (over 25 km/h makes anywhere uncomfortable), UV risk, and rain. Above 70 is a great day; 50–70 is fine if you’re a committed swimmer; below 50 and you’re better off reading a book.
Mangawhai Heads is a swimming beach in Northland. The live panel above shows today's swim score, water temperature, wave height, wind, UV, and a four-day forecast. It uses the same Open-Meteo marine and weather data we use on the main beach dashboard, and pre-selects this beach automatically.
About the beach
Mangawhai Heads fronts the open east coast about halfway between Auckland and Whangārei. White sand, a surf-patrolled main beach and a sheltered estuary at the northern end mean there is almost always a safe swim somewhere.
When it swims best
December through April. Lifeguards patrol the main beach over summer weekends.
What to watch for
The bar at the estuary mouth shifts with storms — avoid the channel on an outgoing tide. Rips on the ocean beach after any decent southerly swell.
Water quality
Swim scores on this page combine live weather and marine conditions but do not include bacterial water-quality grades. Before swimming — particularly within 48 hours of heavy rain — check the LAWA site for the most recent E. coli and enterococci readings at this beach: lawa.org.nz/explore-data/swimming.
More NZ beaches
To check swim conditions at any other New Zealand beach — over 50 named spots from Ninety Mile Beach to Curio Bay — use the NZ Beach Dashboard.