Ruapuke

Edit Spot

About

Nice, relaxing. Hardly ever crowded. Annoying motorbike riders ruin the tranquilty of the spot. Good spot for Hamiltons weekend surfers to give their Subaru legacies and Mitsubishi Libreos a run. Odd fisherman in the summer,but mostly they leap to their deaths off the rocks at the northern end of the beach and are not a hassle. Good place for wave starved east cost surfers to come and get some real waves.

Atmosphere:
Ruapuke is a nice wave when its on. It packs some serious power. Go here when Raglan is flat or 1 foot and Ruapuke will be 3 -4 feet. Best winds are from the easterly quarter. Quality depends on the banks, which can be world class or utter shite. Generally there is something to ride. Watch for the seabreeze in summer. Best swell is a southwest north west combo for wedge tube fun. Generally the beach has about 4-5 main banks that always are in the same general area.

Additional Info:
A typical west coast beach in New Zealand that is more often than not, too big and out of control to surf. Its a beach break so the banks shift around with the rips etc. Pick your bank, you can see them all from the car park which is about 1 meter from the sand. Very exposed to swells.

Location

Access

Drive out along the coast from Raglan along the gravel road, 20 mins. Watch out for cliffs. Nice views. Or drive out toward Bridal Veil falls from Hamilton. That will take you 50 mins from Hamilton.

Dont drive fast on the gravel road, or you will eat it.

Walk	Instant access (<5 min)
Public access	Yes
4x4 required	Unknown
Boat required	Unknown

Wave Characteristics

Type	Beach break
Direction	Right and left
Bottom	Sandy
Power	Hollow, Fast, Powerful, Fun, Powerless, Ledgey
Frequency	Very consistent (150+ days/year)
Normal length	Short (<50m)
Good day length	Normal (50 to 150m)

Ideal Conditions

Wind direction	SouthEast, East, NorthEast
Swell direction	NorthWest, West, SouthWest
Swell size	Less than 3ft - 6ft+
Tide	All tides
Tide movement	Rising and falling tides