Kitesurfing in Lake Onoke - West, Ocean Beach, New Zealand

World • Oceania •

New Zealand

Water type

lagoon, lake

Beach type

sand

Crowd

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Rider level

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Tide dependent

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Waves

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Overview

Drive over the Rimutaka hill road, as you get to the entrance of Featherston take the first exit to the right. There are signs for “western lake road” and “ocean beach”. Follow that road for about 40km then after about 4km on gravel the road splits at a cattle stop. Follow the little yellow sign on your left to “Lake Onoke”.There is gate right after that junction, so just open and close it again. Follow that road until you get to the corner of the lake. If you got a 4wd you can drive onto the spit otherwise park and rig there. It’s all pretty shallow and ankle deep mud. It is a great place to sail!! or sailing I much prefer the western side of the lake. The name of the lake is actually “Lake Onoke”, the settlement on the eastern side is called “Lake Ferry” because there used to be a ferry a long time ago to cross the lake over to the other side to get to Wellington around the southern coast. In the middle of summer, the eastern side by the pub can be very crowded due to the campground with small launching space on the car park right next to the lake and you have to walk over river stones that squash your feet straight into quite a deep river. Depending on how much rain there was the rive can flow quite strong close to the river mouth by the pub. it can get tricky if you have to swim across it when the wind dies. The western side doesn’t have a pub or anything really but the sailing and launching are much easier and it is shallow [knee to waist deep for ages at low tide]. There is a windmeter close to the pub that you can ring up too. 08 3229069 costs 12cent a minute

by Kitesurfing spots NZ

It is your responsability to check whether kitesurfing is allowed at the spot; you might need a 'special permit' or membership from a local kite organization, etc. Local rules can change. Respect others - kiters or not; kite safely and enjoy the wind!