Best time to surf Gisborne – Midway Beach

The best time to surf at Gisborne – Midway Beach is June–August, with waves of about 1.5 m and water around 14°C.

Gisborne, Gisborne, New Zealand

Sports: Surfing

Best time to go: June–August

Midway Beach is the town beach of Gisborne (Tūranganui-a-Kiwa), on Poverty Bay on the North Island's east coast. It runs south-west from the Tūranganui River mouth and Waikanae Beach, along Marine Parade and the Midway Surf Life Saving Club by the city's pool complex, towards the mouth of the Waipaoa River. Motels, cafés and fish and chip shops are close behind the beach, there is parking along the road, and the Midway and Waikanae surf life saving clubs patrol the beach in summer.

The waves break over sandbars shaped by sediment from the Waipaoa River, so the peaks shift after floods and big swells. They are usually small and forgiving, which makes it a good beach for learners, surf lessons and junior surf club members; a section known as the Pipe is more consistent. The bay faces south-east, so it needs a swell from the south to east and is cleanest with a north to north-west wind, which blows offshore. There is no shelter from cross-shore winds, and onshore winds spoil the surf quickly. When Midway is small or blown out, the more exposed beaches of Wainui and Makorori are 10 to 15 minutes away.

After heavy rain the rivers carry polluted water into the bay: stay out of the water for two days after a big rain. Rips are smaller than on the open coast but do form between the sandbars, so stay between the flags when the clubs patrol. The water is about 13 °C in August and 20 °C in February: a 4/3 in winter, a 3/2 or a spring suit in summer. Gisborne Hospital is about 10 minutes away.

Month by month at Gisborne – Midway Beach

January: 4 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 0.7 m, water 20°C, air 23°C (nights 15°C), 26 sunny days, 16 rainy days
February: 3 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 0.7 m, water 20°C, air 23°C (nights 15°C), 24 sunny days, 12 rainy days
March: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 8 knots, waves 0.8 m, water 20°C, air 21°C (nights 13°C), 26 sunny days, 12 rainy days
April: 3 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 8 knots, waves 1 m, water 19°C, air 20°C (nights 12°C), 24 sunny days, 10 rainy days
May: 2 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 7 knots, waves 1.2 m, water 17°C, air 17°C (nights 9°C), 23 sunny days, 9 rainy days
June: 3 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 8 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 15°C, air 15°C (nights 8°C), 20 sunny days, 14 rainy days
July: 4 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 7 knots, waves 1.5 m, water 14°C, air 14°C (nights 6°C), 20 sunny days, 11 rainy days
August: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 8 knots, waves 1.6 m, water 13°C, air 15°C (nights 7°C), 23 sunny days, 12 rainy days
September: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 1.4 m, water 14°C, air 17°C (nights 8°C), 26 sunny days, 10 rainy days
October: 8 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 10 knots, waves 1.3 m, water 15°C, air 19°C (nights 10°C), 26 sunny days, 11 rainy days
November: 4 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 1 m, water 17°C, air 21°C (nights 13°C), 26 sunny days, 13 rainy days
December: 5 windy days (15+ knots), average wind 9 knots, waves 0.7 m, water 19°C, air 23°C (nights 15°C), 26 sunny days, 14 rainy days