Tay Street / North Island / New Zealand

Tay Street is another of the many spots found along the coast ofMount Maunganui.  It's a fun break, suitable for everybody, and is conveniently right in the city.  The area itself is quite interesting, with the town built on a sandbar that has built up in front of the extinct volcano that provides a dramatic backdrop to the area.

This is a fairly small area of what is really quite a long sandy beach. This particular spot rarely gets busy, and in fact you'll often be the only person surfing here. Water temperatures reach a maximum of about 23° C by February, and fall back to 13 or 14° C by August.

This spot works on rising and falling tides, and at all tide positions. Best with the wind from the west or the south-west, the swell works from the north, south-east, east or north-east and will build from around 1 m to 2 or 2.5 m. It is a beach break, both right and left, and the waves are really just fun rather than fast or powerful – they have just enough speed and power to make them interesting. Length is short on most days and you won't often see more than 50 m, though on the occasional very good day you might be lucky and see 150 m.

Lifeguards patrol the beach, and the town has all the facilities you'd expect from shops to accommodation to bars and restaurants. There is plenty of parking nearby, and it's only a short walk from the beach.

There really aren't any hazards here, it's just a place to relax and enjoy yourself in.