Sea conditions at Goat Island
Avoid disappointment by knowing what to expect
Note!! this page has been discontinued since 2015
www.seafriends.org.nz/fcl/sea.htm
SEAFRIENDS has changed.
For café, snorkel hire, school programmes go to  the Octopus Hideaway
For learning about our seas and planet, begin at the home page of seafriends.org.nz
 
Swimming at Goat Island has become hugely popular, drawing many hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. But the visit can become disappointing in the wrong sea conditions. By means of this page we hope to give uptodate information about the weather and sea at Goat Island and around Leigh. Please make sure to verify that the information is current, by checking the date of last update. Bookmark this page and tell others about it. Please note that you may need to reload the page in order to obtain the latest update.


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Please note! Seafriends is under new management. See the Octopus Hideaway
This page is no longer updated. Sorry!
Date Tuesday 16 December,  2014. 09:00 NZ daylight saving time Time. Low  tide at 08:00,20:30(1.0-2.8m). 
Condition: UNSAFE,BAD,POOR,FAIR,GOOD,VERY GOOD, EXCELLENT, 
This  is what the sea looked like this morning:
todayGoat Island  Overcast with strong SE wind & waves.Visibility poor (1-3m) . Temperature 18ºC.   The water is warming again but you still need a thick long wetsuit and hood for 2 hours of discovery and fun. Tall waves E of the channel but calm in Alphabet Bay. Lots of broken seaweed in the shallows. Swell developing.

The Seafriends centre is  open for the new season. We've been renting the best safest gear for over 20 years! Café open 9-4PM every day.    Bookings welcome. Great coffees; tasty meals.

Watch our movie/slideshow on YouTube: The Fishes of Goat Island, part1, part2. 27 minutes. Shows the common fishes of Goat Island, with narrative and subtitles that translate into many of the world's languages.

A snorkeldiver lasts for 25 minutes without, but for 2-3 hours in our 5mm unisuits with hood. $30 all gear all day 9AM-7PM! Discounts for groups or families Discover Goat Island.
Protect yourself against the cold and wear a warm safe protective wet-suit. The water is cold especially if you wish to spend some time in the water.  Don't underestimate the cold as cramp can cripple you unexpectedly. Wear the warm Seafriends'safety suits! Be safe rather than sorry. You are in the Pacific Ocean; not in the Hauraki Gulf!  A middle-aged man drowned at Goat Island Saturday 11 December 2010, and was not wearing a protective wetsuit. A small cause can then lead to death.

Matheson Bay:  calm but murky.

Whangateau estuary:  Clearest around high tide. Snorkel in the Whangateau estuary around high tide, sheltered from westerlies and northerlies. Visibility at high tide not monitored, but less than Goat Island.

Outlook: 
 

Snorkel hire: cheapest, cleanest, huge choice, many sizes and optical masks for short- and long-sightedness. Visit Seafriends at the top of the Goat Island Rd for the best deals, most choice and cleanest gear. When the sea is still cold, most snorkel pleasure can be attained by wearing our fully covering double thickness 5mm wetsuits. A complete set is only $30 for the day, including a hood! Stay warm, stay safe, stay out of the sun, stay comfortable in a single long safety wetsuit (unisuit). Family and group discounts offered.  Additional hoods are free. Optically corrected masks -8 to +4 diopters. Bright night-dive torches for night snorkelling. Take a warm shower after the dive, at Seafriends.  No need to starve or go thirsty because the Seafriends Café is open 9-4 with great coffees and fresh food. Lots of information and marine aquariums to explore. Bring family and friends to camp nearby.

Help our education centre and help our local community! Remember, we are the people fighting to save our seas - YOUR sea, your children's sea. Find out why, on our web site. Support Seafriends!
Seafriends: 7 Goat Island Rd, Leigh RD5. Ph/Fx 094226212. At the top of the Goat Island Road. E-mail now.
Disclaimer
We attempt to keep this page uptodate with accurate information, but may not always succeed.

How do I know at what date and time the photo was taken?
Right-click on the photo and select view image. Then right-click again and view properties.
This should show the JPEG/EXIF data, including date-time taken and modified for Internet.
The daily photo is taken with a vertical polarising filter for optimum penetration into the water.

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