Fences / North Island / New Zealand

Right next to Waitotara Beach, this is a good spot that will suit surfers of all experience levels. The waves aren't especially big, but the length is probably more than you will find anywhere else in New Zealand.

There isn't much of a beach to speak of, but there is plenty of space as the grassland rolls down to meet the water.  There are always a handful of surfers out here but it never seems to get busy, and the sea temperature rises to about 19° C in summer and falls to around 14° C in winter.

Conditions here are best when the wind is coming from the north or north-east, and the swell is coming from the south-west or the south. The swell will start working at 1.5 to 2 m, and hold up to a maximum of around 2.5 m with your best chance being on a rising tide and the water at the mid or high tide position. It is a reef break, both right and left, and the waves are hollow but not heavy or fast. The length here is great even on a normal day, when you can expect 300 to 500 m, and on the best days it can be well over 500 m.

There is no infrastructure here at all, and to reach the spot you asked to drive down the road for quite a way from Waitatora.  That town is only very small and doesn't have many facilities either, but you could make this an easy day trip from Palmerston North.

If you have surfed any of this coast before, then you already know that there are a lot of rocks just under the surface that you need to watch out for.