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Takapuna 76.7

#1661 of 5756 surf spots in the world · 🇳🇿 New Zealand · Auckland · near North Shore

Works almost every day, no off season.

Works all yearIntermediate
Surf score76.7 /100
Surfable days98% of the year
Clean days52% groundswell + friendly wind
Groundswell75% period 11 s+
Typical size1.4 m 4.7 ft median
Water18°C a 3/2 wetsuit

Best time to surf Takapuna

The best time to surf Takapuna is January, April, September. The season runs Mar to Jan. In April the water sits around 19°C, so pack a 3/2 wetsuit, and the typical wave is 1.6 m. The nearest airport is AKL (24 km) and the nearest town is North Shore (0 km).

MonthSurfableCleanSizeWaterSuit
Jan99%68%1.3 m21°C2mm
Feb98%32%1.2 m21°C2mm
Mar99%54%1.2 m20°C2mm
Apr99%70%1.6 m19°C3/2
May98%51%1.4 m17°C3/2
Jun97%40%1.5 m16°C4/3
Jul99%48%1.6 m15°C4/3
Aug97%46%1.6 m14°C4/3
Sep100%56%1.7 m15°C4/3
Oct95%56%1.4 m16°C3/2
Nov98%55%1.4 m19°C3/2
Dec99%46%1.3 m20°C2mm

What is under Takapuna

Eight kilometres out along its swell window the sea floor is still shallow, 21 m. Alongside the bank the survey finds a channel, 29 m against 21 m, deep enough to bend swell onto one peak instead of spreading it along the beach.

Depth 8 km out21 m
Depth 4 km out8 m
Channel beside it29 m

Measured, not estimated: NOAA ETOPO 2022 global relief at 15 arc-seconds, about 460 m per cell, sampled along this spot’s own swell window. At that scale the survey sees passes and channels; it cannot see a reef ledge, so nothing here is said about how the wave breaks.

Why 76.7

Seven parts, each normalised 0 to 1 and multiplied by its weight; the sum is scaled so the best spot in the world scores 100. Wave quality and what the spot does on its best days carry more than half of it, which is what separates this from a ranking of where the water is warm.

Wave quality 34.7%
13.8
Best days 22.4%
13.8
Clean days 18.4%
18.4
Consistency 10.2%
10.2
Season spread 4.1%
4.1
Water comfort 6.1%
2.0
Access 4.1%
4.1

The detail

Faces 83° with 42% open water around it. Friendly morning wind 69% of days. Mean peak period 12.7 s. Days over 3 m: 4%. On its best tenth of days it reaches 2.5 m, with a peak period of 15 s. Mellow days (0.4 to 1.2 m): 33%. Months that work: 12 of 12. Coordinates -36.791, 174.780 (OpenStreetMap).

What it costs to be here

Living here
€2,180/ month
typically €1,920 – €2,440
Rent, one bedroom€1,140
Groceries€455
Eating out€264
Getting around€154
Phone + internet€166
Renting by the month, cooking most days, local transport.
One month here
€4,260/ month
typically €3,740 – €4,770
Somewhere to stay€2,510
Eating out€892
Car, transfers, fuel€578
Data + extras€271
Short stays, eating out, a car or transfers.
49% cheaper if you live here instead of visiting

Airport and town on the doorstep, so the local estimate is 23% above the country average. Estimate: World Bank PPP price level for New Zealand (2025, United States = 1.00) applied to a fixed surfer basket, then adjusted for how remote the spot is. Your own number moves with the season and how you live.

Our own project · Sumba, Indonesia
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Sumba has eight spots in this ranking, the best of them inside the world top 50. A cabin is €11,500. The land it sits on is separate, from €6,500 (€9,950 oceanfront), on an 80-year lease that extends at the end. Water, septic and electricity are another €6,500, and furniture is on top, so a finished cabin lands around €28,000 plus the land, payable in instalments.

Eco Beach City is run by the same people as SurfRanking, so treat this as our own advert, not a recommendation. It is an off-plan property in Indonesia: take your own legal and financial advice before paying anything.

Spots nearby

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