Sea conditions at Goat Island
Avoid disappointment by knowing what to expect
www.seafriends.org.nz/fcl/sea.htm


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.


where - snorkel/dive - hire prices - safety suits - sea conditions - Goat Island - café - aquariums - schools


This table contains daily changing information
Date:Sunday 5 February 2012. 09:00 NZ Daylight Saving Time. Low neap  tide at 12:10, 24:30  (0.9-2.7m). 
Condition: UNSAFE, BAD,POOR,FAIR,GOOD, VERY GOOD, EXCELLENT, 
This  is what the sea looked like, this morning:
todayGoat Island:heavily overcast sky with sligh threat of rain,   moderate E wind , water choppy,  moderate swell developing. Visibility  fair to good(3-8m). Always murky near the beach.  Temperature20.2ºC with  warmer and colder patches . Lots of broken seaweeds in the shallows and on the beach. The W side of the island (Alphabet Bay) is calm and clear.

YesThe Seafriends café is open again and snorkel hire is  available forall-day cheapest prices. No need to ring 094226212.
Watch the 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 any of the world's languages.
A very large coastal slip occurred and many smaller ones, about 200m left of this photo and another one closer by. Because of this, the water will be dirtier than years before. Every high tide and particularly spring high tides with waves, will carve out more mud from these slips. Patches of dirty water then swirl around with patches of clearer water, leaving the beach area much dirtier than outlying areas like Alphabet Bay, and often muddying the whole area around Goat Island. See below. Clear water expected at 1. neap tides, 2. E winds, 3. no swell, but not always predictable.
A snorkeldiver lasts for 25 minutes without, but for 2-3 hours in our unisuits with hood. $30 all gear all day 9AM-7PM! Discounts for groups or familiesDiscover 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:  not monitored.

Whangateau estuary:  Clearest around high tide. Snorkel in the Whangateau estuary around high tide, sheltered from easterlies and northerlies. Visibility at high tide not monitored

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. The sea is still cold and most snorkel pleasure can be attained by wearing our fully covering 5mm wetsuits. A complete set is only $30 for the day! 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. Use our SCUBA gear for beach diving and fill your tanks here for the best rates. No need to starve or go thirsty because the Seafriends Café is open 9-5 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 this 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.

Cyclone Wilma Friday night 28 January 2011
Cyclone Wilma was no longer a tropical cyclone when it landed over the North Island, releasing a torrent of water instead. Floodings and slips occurred everywhere and it is said that 400mm of rain fell overnight. After the heavy rains a week before, the soils became saturated and undercut, and massive coastal slips occurred, also along the Goat Island marine reserve. Thousands of cubic metres of mud and muddy sand are now within reach of the sea at high tide and will be eaten out very slowly, as clay does not easily wear away. It is a lesson for every countryman where the mismanagement of over a century, now comes home. Our coasts have been grazed, burnt and denuded by stock and possums, ready to slip away. In 50 years time nobody will remember what they once looked like.
The devastation along Goat Island Bay is unimaginable and worth visiting when the tide is low. Failing that, see the pictures below.
 
 


The majestic pohutukawa tree by the lookout has come down, with a large amount of debris, making the already small beach smaller still. Very few pohutukawa trees are now left from those standing here in 1975. Note that the slip lies over the high tide line.

On left a Met image of cyclone Wilma raining out over Northland.
One of the many coastal slips destroyed coastal trees and dropped vast amounts of mud within reach of the sea.
A slip like this may not seem much but it has destabilised the area, leading to further slumps later on, while all this mud eventually enters the sea. The whole high tide line is now under debris and mud.
This amount of brown water was enough to reduce visibility around Goat Island to nil.
The slip begins 50m at the top of the cliff.
A mass of tangled broken branches and soft mud.
Thousands of cubic metres of soft mud now in reach of the sea.

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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