Oakura Beach • Statistics for January

January: The Summer Lull With Westerly Muscle

January opens with a classic New Zealand summer pattern. Average swell heights sit near 5ft (1.6m) with a long-period 11.4s pulse, but the dominant deep-water swell direction is overwhelmingly WSW - a hefty 53.4 percent of the spectrum. Oakura's preferred N, NNW, NW and WNW windows combine for only around 11 percent of the energy, meaning much of that raw west-southwest groundswell is angled, shadowed or simply not aligned with the beach's north-west-facing sandbars. The best days come when the WSW energy bends into WNW or NW and the period stays up in the 12-14s range.

Winds are a genuine mixed bag. Ideal offshore flow occurs just 21 percent of the time, while NNW winds pump in at 8.9 percent and WNW/NW add another 14 percent of onshore or cross-shore chop. Expect semi-clean mornings with sea breeze build through the afternoon. Water temps are a warm 19.1°C, air temps hover near 17.6°C and rainfall is modest at 2.51 mm/day - summer shorts and a good wax supply are the call.