Nelson/Tasman
Nelson/Tasman as a region has a relatively unheard-of surf culture that tends to slip under the radar on New Zealand’s surf scene.
Nevertheless, the pure paradise of the region, where mountains slope down to meet the sea is what makes surfing in the region centred around both waves and connecting to nature.
The formation of a natural Boulder Bank holds the region’s main low-mid tide break; Schnappers Point. This break provides punchy left and right handers on an Easterly wind and Northerly swell direction. On cyclone swell systems this break can handle large hollow swells. Smaller fronts provoke a mellow long or short boardable wave. North of Nelson City, house long, hollow lefts for the more experienced surfer. Be sure to pack your booties to avoid kina lurking in the intertidal zones. Traveling West, will expose you to the sandy beach breaks of Ruby Bay and Rabbit Island. These breaks hold smaller waves for those beginning surfing. Central Port Nelson also hold a wave accessed regularly by the regions large SUP surf community. For the intrepid surfer willing to travel the extra distance for empty breaks and a slice of remote paradise, Golden Bays stretch of the West Coast holds several breaks along an expansive dune and native bush scape.
Ultimately, if conditions provide right, Nelson/Tasman is a region you won’t want to pass up on your next New Zealand surf excursion.
Emma Pegg
Raised in and around the waters of Tasman Bay over the past 20 years, has shaped me to have a connective and conscious mentality for our big blue backyard. The vision I hold for surfing is strongly tied to ideas of sustainability, respect for the earth, and peer to peer relationship’s.
My surfing journey first began six years ago, as one of the only women surfers in the bay. I was raised by a clan of local guys grafted with the beauty of humanity, and became a fresh prodigy of the local boardriders as a grom. The West and East Coast of the South Island has always been a place of paradise on my surfing map, trips with local surfers a consistency throughout my surf journey.
Currently I am progressing through my degree in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, traveling between North and South Islands. For now, I’m content absorbing the ora of our big blue backyard and exchanging its connections with like-minded beings.
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