Updated Thu, 8 Oct 2026 from LINZ tide predictions and the weather forecast
A Kawau Bay beach with four council ramps, inside MPI’s 2026 Kawau Bay shellfish closure and beside DOC’s Kawau Bay protection areas.
Sources: LINZ tide predictions, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
High and low tides in New Zealand time, calculated from LINZ's prediction for Auckland, its standard port, with the differences LINZ publishes for Matakana River - Sandspit (2.2 km from Snells Beach). Next: high tide at 5:52 am.
| Day | High tide | Low tide |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 8 Oct (today) | 5:52 am (2.6 m) · 6:17 pm (2.8 m) | 12:04 pm (0.6 m) |
| Fri 9 Oct | 6:50 am (2.7 m) · 7:08 pm (2.8 m) | 12:35 am (0.6 m) · 12:58 pm (0.6 m) |
| Sat 10 Oct | 7:42 am (2.8 m) · 7:57 pm (2.9 m) | 1:26 am (0.6 m) · 1:47 pm (0.6 m) |
| Sun 11 Oct | 8:29 am (2.9 m) · 8:43 pm (2.9 m) | 2:13 am (0.5 m) · 2:31 pm (0.6 m) |
| Mon 12 Oct | 9:13 am (2.9 m) · 9:26 pm (2.8 m) | 2:57 am (0.5 m) · 3:13 pm (0.6 m) |
| Tue 13 Oct | 9:55 am (2.9 m) · 10:08 pm (2.8 m) | 3:38 am (0.5 m) · 3:54 pm (0.6 m) |
| Wed 14 Oct | 10:35 am (2.8 m) · 10:49 pm (2.7 m) | 4:16 am (0.6 m) · 4:34 pm (0.6 m) |
Times and heights follow LINZ's method for secondary ports (the standard port's prediction plus the published mean differences and range ratio); checked against LINZ's own daily prediction for Raglan over a week on 7 October 2026, the method came within 13 minutes and 0.2 m. Heights are above chart datum. These are LINZ predictions, not the official tide tables for navigation, and wind and air pressure can move the real tide by tens of minutes.
Snells Beach is fishing in the cool band: give each spot time and work the tide change. Today brings clear skies, wind WSW around 11 km/h, falling pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Tides: high 5:52 am and 6:17 pm, low 12:04 pm: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 16 °C for the season (estimated). With the waning crescent, the solunar majors run 10:13 AM-12:13 PM and 10:30 PM-12:30 AM: the windows to build the day around.
In spring the schools bunch up before moving onto their spawning grounds; in autumn and winter they spread into deeper, more open water. Either way, fish the 15 to 60 metre marks with baits on the bottom and time the session around the tide change.
Schools are harder to find, so go to them: river mouths and harbour channels at the turn of the tide, with a strip of fresh bait under a float or a soft bait retrieved slowly.
Fewer people chase kingfish in the cooler months. Deep pinnacles and offshore reef are where to look, with jigs or live bait worked through the tide change.
Bottom feeding is the likeliest bite: harbour channels and reef edges, small baits in a steady berley trail, through the tide change.
Fish slower as the water cools: an anchored ledger rig in harbour channels or on the sand off the beaches, with fresh bait.
Winter is when the Hauraki Gulf sees its occasional feeding schools: fish slowly around reef edges and channel structure.
Anchor or hold over the deeper reef edges with small baits close to the bottom, and move when a mark goes quiet.
Fish the deeper harbour channels at low water and the flats as the tide comes back in.
Tie on: Two-hook ledger, fresh bait · Slow jig worked close to the bottom · Flasher rig, slow drift · Strip of kahawai or mullet. Prime windows: 10:13 AM-12:13 PM, 10:30 PM-12:30 AM, 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. Similar at 19 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (06:47), sunset (19:30), the moon and today's score, with the tide times above. Tap a bar to see why.
Solunar majors 10:13 AM-12:13 PM and 10:30 PM-12:30 AM; minor 4:52 AM-5:52 AM. Waning Crescent, 9% lit.
The moon phase here is astronomy, not a maramataka: what the maramataka is, and why this site does not rate days by it.
Today's tides from LINZ and the forecast for the day, which is a model.
Calculated from LINZ's prediction for Auckland, its standard port, with the differences LINZ publishes for Matakana River - Sandspit (2.2 km from Snells Beach). Heights above chart datum. Fish the moving water either side of each change.
Latest readings
Today is the pick of the week on Snells Beach, at 4 out of 5.
Best day this week: today, 8 Oct — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
The species that matter on Snells Beach: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Tāmure or kouarea in te reo Māori. MPI describes snapper as the dominant fish of northern inshore waters, most common where the sea is warmer and especially in the Hauraki Gulf, at home on reef as well as sand and mud, usually between 15 and 60 metres. The Fisheries Assessment Plenary calls it the largest recreational fishery in New Zealand. In spring the schools bunch up before moving onto their spawning grounds; in autumn and winter they spread into deeper, more open water. Either way, fish the 15 to 60 metre marks with baits on the bottom and time the session around the tide change.
Kahawai (Arripis trutta) live right around New Zealand in coastal seas, harbours and estuaries, and run into the brackish lower reaches of rivers. A schooling fish that takes bait readily and eats mostly small fish and krill; MPI notes a second species, the Kermadec kahawai, which turns up seasonally around Northland. The Plenary records kahawai as an important customary food fish for Māori. Schools are harder to find, so go to them: river mouths and harbour channels at the turn of the tide, with a strip of fresh bait under a float or a soft bait retrieved slowly.
Haku or kahu in te reo Māori. MPI says kingfish are most common in the northern half of the North Island but range from the Kermadec Islands to Foveaux Strait, around reefs, pinnacles and rocky outcrops with strong current or tidal flow. Adults grow past 1.5 metres, and MPI puts the average recreational fish at about 10 kg. The Plenary notes that a high share of the recreational catch is released. Fewer people chase kingfish in the cooler months. Deep pinnacles and offshore reef are where to look, with jigs or live bait worked through the tide change.
Araara in te reo Māori. Trevally feed both at the surface and on the bottom: schools appear on top, in midwater and over the seabed, often around reef and rough ground and sometimes mixed with kōheru and kahawai. Young fish live in estuaries and harbours. The Plenary notes that surface schools come with settled weather rather than at a set time of year, and that trevally can live beyond 40 years. Bottom feeding is the likeliest bite: harbour channels and reef edges, small baits in a steady berley trail, through the tide change.
Kumukumu in te reo Māori. Red gurnard live across harbours and shallow coastal waters, which the Plenary says makes them an important recreational species, often caught by people fishing for snapper and tarakihi. They spawn through spring and summer, and small juveniles shelter in shallow harbours. Fish slower as the water cools: an anchored ledger rig in harbour channels or on the sand off the beaches, with fresh bait.
Kuparu in te reo Māori. John Dory are common inshore in northern New Zealand and, less so, in Tasman Bay, down to about 50 metres; very few are found south of Hawke's Bay on the east coast. The Plenary reports that Hauraki Gulf adults move into deeper water in summer, gather now and then to feed in winter, and spawn between December and April off the north-east coast. Winter is when the Hauraki Gulf sees its occasional feeding schools: fish slowly around reef edges and channel structure.
Tarakihi are mostly taken on lines, often by people fishing for snapper or blue cod (Plenary). Juveniles grow up in shallow inshore nurseries such as Tasman Bay, the Kaikōura coast, northern Pegasus Bay, the Canterbury Bight and Otago, then move out to 50 to 200 metres at about 25 cm. The minimum fork length is 25 cm in every area. Anchor or hold over the deeper reef edges with small baits close to the bottom, and move when a mark goes quiet.
Pātiki in te reo Māori. Four flounder species make up most of the recreational flatfish catch, taken in harbours, estuaries, coastal lakes and inlets around the country (Plenary). Most are netted or speared from the shore rather than caught on a line. Flatfish stay in water shallower than about 50 metres, and juveniles grow up on sheltered mud and sand flats. Fish the deeper harbour channels at low water and the flats as the tide comes back in.
Closed parts of this water today: Ōmaha Bay, Kawau Bay and Whangaparāoa rock-pool closure. Two-year closure from 12 March 2026: no invertebrates or seaweed from the rock pools and out to 200 metres, kina excepted. Fisheries New Zealand (MPI).
You do not need a licence to fish in the sea around New Zealand, but the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) sets daily limits, minimum sizes and closures for each area, and Snells Beach is in the Auckland and Kermadec area. The figures below are per person per day, as MPI's area page printed them on 7 October 2026. Fishing in rivers and lakes needs a licence: New Zealand fishing licence.
Near an area or zone boundary. Kawau Bay shore: inside the 2026 Kawau Bay rock-pool closure (invertebrates to 200 m offshore).
| Fish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum length |
|---|---|---|---|
| All finfish combined | Auckland and Kermadec area, excluding baitfish (50 combined) and freshwater eels (6) | 20 | — |
| Snapper | Auckland East (SNA1: North Cape to Cape Runaway) | 7 | 30 cm |
| Snapper | Auckland West (North Cape to Tirua Point) | 10 | 27 cm |
| Snapper | Row labelled "Auckland/Kermadecs" (read as the Kermadecs) | 15 | 27 cm |
| Kahawai | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | None set |
| Kingfish | Auckland | 3 | 75 cm |
| Kingfish | Kermadecs; Kermadecs: groper/bass and kingfish 5 combined, no more than 3 kingfish | In the combined limit | 75 cm |
| Trevally | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Gurnard | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Tarakihi | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Blue cod | Auckland and Kermadec area; landed whole or gutted; accumulation of 2 daily limits on multi-day trips with proof | In the combined limit | 30 cm |
| Red cod | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | 25 cm |
| Flounder | Auckland and Kermadec area | In the combined limit | None set |
| John Dory | Auckland and Kermadec area; not listed; falls under "all other finfish" | In the combined limit | None set |
| Shellfish | Where it applies | Daily limit | Minimum size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scallops | Auckland and Kermadec area; season 1 Sep to 31 Mar | 20 | 100 mm |
| Cockles | Auckland and Kermadec | 150 | None set |
| Cockles | Auckland Coromandel area | 50 | None set |
| Pāua (blackfoot) | Auckland and Kermadec area | 10 | 125 mm |
| Pāua (yellowfoot) | Auckland and Kermadec area | 10 | 80 mm |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | CRA 1, "Kaipara Harbour North Head and Te Arai Point" | 2 spiny, 3 packhorse | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | CRA 2, Te Arai Point to East Cape | 3 spiny, 3 packhorse | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
| Rock lobster (crayfish) | West coast south of Kaipara Harbour | 6 (no more than 3 packhorse) | Tail width spiny 54 mm male, 60 mm female; packhorse 84 mm male, 90 mm female |
Rules change often, sometimes at short notice: check MPI's Auckland and Kermadec fishing rules or the NZ Fishing Rules app before you keep any fish. Source: Ministry for Primary Industries and licensed by MPI for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 16 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at good. High of 18 °C, wind to 21 km/h.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at good. High of 16 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Snapper led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
No licence is needed to fish the sea around New Zealand (MPI). Rivers and lakes need a licence: New Zealand fishing licence.
Daily limits, minimum sizes and closures are set by MPI for each area and change often: the rules for Snells Beach are above, with the date they were read and the link to check them before you keep anything.
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Snells Beach is a bay or coastal water in Auckland, New Zealand, covered from the Auckland reports and listed in all New Zealand waters.
Auckland Council lists four ramps at Snells Beach: a metal two-lane ramp at Dawsons Landing in Te Whau Esplanade Reserve, at the end of Dawson Road, and one-lane concrete ramps at Ariki Reserve, at Sunrise Boulevard where Snells Beach Road ends, and at Sunburst Reserve and Tamatea Esplanade on Sunburst Avenue. Algies Bay, just south, has two more one-lane ramps.
MPI’s Kawau Bay closure covers the coast at Snells Beach and Algies Bay, from the Matakana River mouth south to Mahurangi East. For two years from 12 March 2026 it forbids taking seaweed or any invertebrate other than kina from the rock pools and the water within 200 metres of the high-water mark.
DOC’s Kawau Bay Seafloor Protection Area spreads across the bay towards Kawau Island and up the North Channel to Tāwharanui. Line fishing and spearfishing remain legal there as long as the seafloor is not damaged, while bottom trawling, dredging and Danish seining are banned. The High Protection Area further south, in the South Channel, is closed to recreational fishing.
Not during MPI’s Kawau Bay closure, in force for two years from 12 March 2026, which covers the Snells Beach shore out to 200 m; kina are excluded.
Line fishing and spearfishing are allowed in DOC’s Kawau Bay Seafloor Protection Area. The High Protection Area in the South Channel, off Mahurangi East, is closed to recreational fishing.
LINZ’s Matakana River - Sandspit secondary port, about 2 km north, calculated from Auckland.
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Pablo Ruiz QuinteroThe forecast refreshes on a 30-minute window; tide predictions are LINZ’s for the year. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.