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.
Beach guides
Every beach in the live picker has its own page with local detail — when it swims best, what to watch for, and a live forecast panel pre-set to that beach. Browse by region below.
- Bay of Islands, Northland — Paihia Beach
- Far North, Northland — Ninety Mile Beach
- Northland (east coast) — Matauri Bay
- Northland — Mangawhai Heads
- West Auckland — Piha Beach · Muriwai Beach · Bethells Beach
- Auckland, North Shore — Takapuna Beach · Long Bay
- Auckland, Eastern Bays — Mission Bay · St Heliers Beach
- Auckland, Hibiscus Coast — Orewa Beach
- Coromandel Peninsula — Hot Water Beach · Hahei Beach · Whangamata Beach
- Coromandel / Bay of Plenty — Waihi Beach
- Waikato, west coast — Raglan (Ngarunui) Beach
- Bay of Plenty — Mount Maunganui Main Beach · Papamoa Beach
- Eastern Bay of Plenty — Ohope Beach
- Gisborne, East Coast — Wainui Beach
- Hawke's Bay — Ocean Beach (Hawke's Bay) · Waimarama Beach
- Taranaki — Fitzroy Beach (New Plymouth) · Oakura Beach
- Kapiti Coast — Paraparaumu Beach
- Wellington Harbour — Oriental Bay
- Wellington, south coast — Lyall Bay
- Porirua, Wellington region — Titahi Bay
- Nelson — Tahunanui Beach
- Nelson / Tasman — Kaiteriteri Beach
- Kaikoura, North Canterbury — Kaikoura South Bay
- Christchurch — Sumner Beach · New Brighton Beach
- Banks Peninsula, Canterbury — Akaroa Beach
- Dunedin — St Clair Beach
- Southland — Oreti Beach