Mahia Spit / North Island / New Zealand

This is another of those great Mahia spots. It provides a good sized wave, but it requires a lot of experience and ability to get right and anyone without the necessary experience will soon be shown up.

This is in front of a decent sized beach, all soft white sand and backed by large grassy areas. Because it only breaks infrequently and it is a little bit out of the way, you'll find that it is empty almost all the time.  The climate is mild, with the water temperature reaching an average high of about 19° C and falling to an average low of about 13° C.

This place works when the wind is coming from the south-west or the south, and the swell is coming up from the north or the north-east. It works at all tides and on both rising and falling tides, and you'll find that the swell starts working at 1 m to 1.5 m before reaching a maximum of just over 3 m. It is a point break, both right and left, and the waves are fast and heavy and also hollow. Length is about average for the area, and can reach up to 150 m on a good day although it can also be a fairly short 50 m or so.

You can park by the side of the road behind the beach, so access is very easy. There are no facilities on the beach or close by, unless you want to camp, and most people make this a day or weekend trip from Napier or Gisborne.

Watch out for the rocks that are all over this part of the coast, and although it's a quiet place you'll still get the odd local who seems to be happy to drop in on you.