Ohope Beach (West End) / North Island / New Zealand

Usually a pretty average break suitable for everybody, this occasionally comes alive and builds to become a big, heavy wave that will challenge even pro surfers. 

The beach is sandy and clear of obstacles and debris, with an open aspect to the east and a rocky headland to the west. It’s pretty quiet in the week, but it gets crowded at weekends.  Water temperatures range between an average of 21 C in summer and 14 C in winter.

The wind is good when it is coming from the southwest, and the swell best when coming from the east or northwest.  It is best at the mid or high tide level, and will usually start building at less than 1m before reaching about 2m, although the odd day is capable of reaching 3.5m or more.  It is a beach break, breaks both right and left, and the power and speed of the waves are fairly ordinary most of the time but will get heavy and powerful occasionally.  Length is short on most days, reaching a maximum of about 50m, but on a good day it can be as much as 150m.

There aren’t really any facilities on the beach and Ohope is pretty small, but the town of Whakatane is only a couple of minutes away and is a bit bigger.  Parking is close behind the beach, on a lot at the end of the main road.  . 

There are a few rocks close to the surface at the west end of the beach, but they’re easily avoided unless the swell is really big.  Localism can make an appearance sometimes, but mostly it’s a friendly spot.