Wairoa tide times

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived.

Model-derived from a global ocean grid. Useful indication; expect about ±45 minutes on average vs. a local harmonic gauge, individual stations vary widely. See /methodology for per-region detail. Not for navigation.

Conditions as of 16:00 local time. Refreshes daily.

Predictions: Open-Meteo Marine (MeteoFrance SMOC, 0.08° grid) — heights relative to MSL (not chart datum / LAT). Model-derived. · Not for navigation.

The angler tradition for major/minor fishing windows: major ≈3-hour windows around moon transit and opposition; minor ≈2-hour windows around moonrise and moonset. Times are Pacific/Auckland local. Folk tradition, not a scientific forecast.

Next spring tide on Wed 13 May (range 1.2m). Last neap on Thu 07 May.

Spring tides cluster around new and full moons (biggest swings). Neap tides land on quarter moons (smallest swings). See the spring tide and neap tide glossary entries for the why.

Wairoa sits 60 km north of Napier at the mouth of the Wairoa River, where one of the largest river catchments in the North Island drains into Hawke Bay. The town straddles the riverbank in the final 2 km before the river meets the sea at a broad, often tide-influenced river mouth. The tidal pattern is semidiurnal with a mean range of approximately 1.4 m above LAT — slightly larger than at Napier to the south, consistent with the character of the northern Hawke's Bay coast. The Wairoa River itself is the defining feature for water-based activity. The lower river is tidal — the flood tide backs up the estuary section, slowing the outflow and creating slack-water conditions ideal for flatwater kayaking, rowing, and fishing from the bank or by boat. The river holds good numbers of snapper, kahawai, and flounder in the tidal reach, particularly during the outgoing tide when baitfish are pushed seaward. The Wairoa Rowing Club operates on the river from the Wairoa Bridge area. Wairoa's river mouth beach — a sand and gravel barrier spit — is typical of the Hawke's Bay coast: exposed to northeast and east swells, often with a strong longshore current driven by the prevailing east swell direction. The spit position shifts year to year as the river floods deposit sediment and winter swells rework the bar. Fishing off the beach is productive for kahawai, which school around the river mouth plume during the early flood tide. The Wairoa district extends northeast into the remote Māhia Peninsula — a limestone headland with significant Māori history (Te Māhia — the headland of Māhia) that forms the northern boundary of Hawke Bay. Māhia Beach on the western side of the peninsula faces northwest into Hawkdun Bay, a calmer water body sheltered by the peninsula. The Eastern Māhia coast is more exposed and excellent for surfcasting. Lake Waikaremoana, 65 km inland in Te Urewera (the former national park, now under Tūhoe governance), is accessible via SH38 through Wairoa — the gateway town for one of New Zealand's Great Walks. The lake is completely non-tidal but the journey to reach it passes through the Wairoa River valley. Predictions on this page come from Open-Meteo Marine, a gridded global ocean model. Accuracy is typically within ±45 minutes on timing and ±0.2–0.3 m on height — model-derived, not from a local gauge. For authoritative New Zealand tide data, consult Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) at linz.govt.nz.