New Zealand Travel Forum

We're travelling to New Zealand for 3 weeks in October (can't wait!)
My boyfriend has recently started surfing and was wondering if there is anywhere to surf on NZ South Island.
We're Brits so really not looking for big Hawaii-style waves, just something big enough to get stood up on.
Is there anywhere to surf?
Also a friend said he thought there were sharks round NZ - is this something we need to be careful of? (not heard of a shark problem there before...?)

We have a lot of surfers on Christchurch's beaches, in detail at:

1. Sumner
2. Taylor's Mistake (just over Scarborough Hill from Sumner)
3. New Brighton

A small stretch of coastline in the suburb of Ferrymead (on the way from the city centre to Sumner) is very popular with kite surfers, and you also get a lot of wind for "normal" surfing. It is an estuary of two rivers, sheltered by a narrow peninsula from the open sea, so there are no big waves at all. Still the surfers get a lot of speed.

check out http://www.surf.co.nz/...there is also surfing at Timaru and just south of Oamaru at Kakanui, but I'm sure all the surfies you meet will be able to point you to the best spots up and down the east coast

I saw many surfers in Mount Maunganui , Tauranga, in the North Island.