- Chop - Small Wave (< 1m) - Medium Wave (1-3m) - Big Wave (> 3m)
Hazards:
- Swimmers
Quality:
- Clean
Best Tide:
- Low Tide
Lyall Bay is a long (narrow) sandy bay located next to Wellington's airport and faces the Cook Strait. Picks-up a lot of southerly swell and the waves can get quite powerful with an onshore beach break. Combination of heavy waves, gusty onshore winds, windsurfers, proximity to the road (and buildings on the beach) make it unsuitable for any but extremely experienced riders. It is often necessary to have to jump over breaking waves in order to sail out. Upwind sailing, and jumping and jibing are necessary skills for sailing at Lyall. If you cannot confidently perform all of these skills, when it is blowing a southerly, please consider sailing at Petone which is more suitable for beginners/intermediate kitesurfers. Lots of swimmers.
Sandy beach. Very narrow at high tide, with road and powerlines to leeward. The only place to set-up, launch and land in Lyall Bay is at the far west end/corner of the beach, in front of the toilet block, where the windsurfers also rig and launch from. This the most upwind point in the bay. Launching anywhere east of the lifesaving club buildings is not advisable as it is almost impossible to sail upwind through the shore break here. Please do NOT attempt to launch down at the east end of the beach by the airport. The beach is long and sandy but can be very narrow at high tide, so launching is recommended at low tide. A main road runs adjacent to the beach and not only does it have the usual power lines but also has high voltage bus power cables too. Launching in the corner can be gusty. Definitely not a place for the novice! The beach gets very crowded in summer in sea breeze conditions. Please do the locals a favor and don't go out on those days.
- January - February - March - August - September - October - November - December
Wind Type:
- Thermal Winds - Frontal Winds
Best Direction:
- SSE - S - SSW
Main Direction:
- SSE - NNW
Wellington has about 75% winds from the northerly direction and about 15-20% from southerly directions. Lyall Bay only works in southerly winds. If it's a southerly front going through it can get VERY windy very quickly and there can be quite big waves. Too onshore mostly for proper down the line wave riding. In summer there can be quite a few days with nice light wind sea breezes and quite flat water.
Before sailing in Lyall Bay you MUST contact the airport control tower (particularly if you're the first there) and ask permission prior to launch. The control tower has the full responsibility for all airspace around the area and has the power to stop kites flying at Lyall. Some people have already been pulled over by airport security for launching without warning. Please obey their instructions and keep them happy. Local kitesurfers have worked hard to maintain a good working relationship with the control tower. Please respect these guidelines to keep Lyall Bay open to kitesurfers. The number to call the airport tower on is: 04-3871980. There have been quite a few complaints from the Surflivesaving Club to the harbor master. Becasue of the airport proximity we are walking on very thin ice regarding beach access there anyway. Please don't get the beach closed for the whole year because of two months with the odd light sea breeze in summer by kiting through swimmers.
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