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.
Oakura Beach is a swimming beach in Taranaki. 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
Oakura is the picturesque black-sand beach 15 minutes south-west of New Plymouth. Backed by a small township and the Taranaki coastal cycle route, and usually a quieter alternative to Fitzroy.
When it swims best
November through April.
What to watch for
Surf beach. No summer patrols — this is a confident-swimmer beach.
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.