Surfing in Dunedin, Dunedin Overview

Dunedin is an excellent spot for surfers to try their skills and for non-surfers to learn at the magnificent beach breaks close to the city. It has fantastic point breaks on the North coast, several reef breaks and geographical swells. The swells from East and North combine a range of surf breaks (around 10) from Aramoana beach, Murdering Bay and to a little village of Karitane.

St. Clair is one of the go-to spots for surfing in Dunedin. The average direction of wind flow is north to northwest. Otago and Southland surfing spots are for advanced surfers because of their challenging geographical factors like huge swells, more significant winds several point breaks. One might find only drawbacks are chilling water, currents, long hikes and long-haul flights.

Esplanade Surf School

With two surf bases in St. Clair beach and Warrington beach, Esplanade Surf school has accommodation, coffee kiosks and an experienced team of surfers to guide you through your surfing experience. The school is run by a surfer couple, Jason and Evie Newton.

Since the school has two separate wings to surf, the bases can be switched according to the climatic convenience and wave conditions. The experienced guides will take the advanced lot to the best surf spots. For beginners, spots are chosen with care. It also has a wide range of wetsuits and surfboards to equip yourself for the surfing experience.

Blackhead Beach

A short drive from the central township of Dunedin, Blackhead beach is an excellent spot for surfing with its high sand dunes, crashing waves and a high quarry. There is parking space available outside its premises. It is surrounded with a great scenic view of the quarry and rich high waves of the beach. The best time to surf is around the months of fall and spring.

Aramoana Beach

Located on the northern head of the Dunedin city, some 27 kilometres away from it, the beach is very sparsely populated with scattered settlements. For the early Maorie settlers, this beach was considered to be the “pathway to sea”. Initially known to be a great beach resort, the beach has lost its shine after the fatal criminal massacre in the year 1990. The beach is a great surf spot otherwise with a wide variety of birdlife, rocky hills and superb view.

St. Clair Surfing Beach

It is renowned to be one of the most go to spots for surfing in Dunedin. The crowd is high throughout the year. It hosts annual surfing competitions and championships. It also has small food joints and cafes scattered along the coast, lodgings and hotels for accommodation. The beach has its very own surf school to guide learners and beginners to surf.

Allan's Beach

Allans beach is a sandy beach with great breaks for surfing. The beach is suitable for surfers of intermediate to advanced level. The swell direction is south east and the wind direction north west. The wave type formed is beach break and each wave goes up to a height of 1.5ft in ideal conditions.

Brighton Beach

Located 20 kms on the southwestern end of Dunedin. You can visit the beach for a regular sight seeing trip or go there specifically to try your hand at surfing. There are surf-life saving patrols on duty during the peak hours of tourist visit. The other options for recreation here are stroll boating or to visit the South Seas Gallery.