MapNew ZealandTahunanui BeachNew Zealand

Tahunanui Beach

Nelson

also known as Tahuna Beach

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

beginner-friendlymedium crowds

On this page

The spot
Wind
Forecast
Month by month
Water
Level
The scene
Launch
Schools
Tips
Getting there
Photos

Riding essentials

Season

Sep–Apr

Best months

How windy

10-20 knots

Character: mixed

Room to launch

wide

rules and access below

Water

mixed

19 °C in summerTasman Bay is fairly sheltered and the shallow front beach warms in the sun

Hazards

Reported by riders

Level

Beginner to advanced

With a caveat: see Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Crowds

medium crowds · busy Dec Jan Feb

Schools

working here

From the airport

6 min

Nelson Airport (NSN)

When it fills in

No onset time is published for this spot.

Tahunanui Beach has no other spot on this map within 40 km of it. straight-line distance

Backup spotsWhere riders go when the wind doesn't work here.

Golden Bay spotsno page yet
Atawhai Estuaryno page yet
Rabbit Islandno page yet
Marahauno page yet

The spot

Tahunanui is Nelson's kite beach, a few minutes from both the airport and the city.

Zones

Kiters use the western end; the designated swimming zone is the eastern end, and the two do not mix.

Water

The sand spit and the front beach give shallow, clear water that the schools teach in, while the channel next door is deep and moves fast, up to 6 knots on the outgoing tide. That current is for experienced riders and nobody else.

Wind and season

N, NE and NW are the best directions, the most consistent stretch of the year runs September/October through March/April, and 10-20 knots is the normal range.

Temperature and location

Water is around 19 C in summer and down near 12 C early in the season, so plan on neoprene most of the year. If you have days to spare it is a decent base for the wider Nelson and Golden Bay coast.

The wind

locals call it sea breeze

Direction

cross-onN

Direction to shore

side-shore to cross-onshore depending on wind direction and whether riding the front beach, sand spit or channel

Dominant direction

N, NE and NW in the main season. W and SW also work, at the right tide.

Kite sizes

45678910111213141516

metres · typical quiver highlighted

The quiver, in words

A New Zealand travelling quiver of 12-14 m, 9-10 m and 5-6 m covers the range. Nothing Tahunanui-specific has been published.

Character

mixed

Average strength

Typical strength

10-20 knots on the thermal sea-breeze days that make up most of the season, averaging about 15. Early in the season the frontal systems blow harder and colder than that and can leave the bay stormy.

Most reliable September/October through March/April, on a mix of local sea breeze and frontal wind.

September/October through March/April is the consistent stretch. Early in it the weather is frontal, with strong wind, stormy sea and water near 12 C; as summer comes on the wind switches to thermal sea breeze and the shallow front beach warms up.

Forecast

Live forecast

Windguru Windfinder Windy

Month by month

Jan, riders' month5
Feb, riders' month11
Mar, riders' month6
Apr, riders' month10
May8
Jun3
Jul11
Aug8
Sep, riders' month15
Oct, riders' month19
Nov, riders' month12
Dec, riders' month15

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+)

Ringed months are the best ones according to riders and schools: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec.

5%Jan22°
11%Feb22°
6%Mar20°
10%Apr18°
8%May16°
3%Jun14°
11%Jul13°
8%Aug12°
15%Sep13°
19%Oct15°
12%Nov18°
15%Dec20°

windy days per month (3 h+ at 12 kn+) · water °C below · season highlighted

Modelled from the operational forecast archive at 1.5–7 km (2023-2024), daylight hours only, not a ground station: it resolves thermal, lake and valley winds far better than coarse reanalysis but still tends to understate a strong local thermal.

Every figure, month by monthWindy days · Force 4+ · 12 kn or more · Knots · Wind from · Peaks at · Air · Water · Readings

Month	Windy days	Force 4+	12 kn or more	Knots	Wind from	Peaks at	Air	Water	Readings
Jan	5%	10%	10%	8.1 kt	N	14:00	18.4 °C	22.2 °C	62
Feb	11%	25%	19%	8.6 kt	N	14:00	17.6 °C	22 °C	57
Mar	6%	23%	19%	8.6 kt	N	15:00	15.7 °C	20.2 °C	62
Apr	10%	20%	12%	8.1 kt	N	14:00	14 °C	17.6 °C	60
May	8%	18%	16%	7.4 kt	N	13:00	11.7 °C	15.8 °C	62
Jun	3%	7%	5%	6.2 kt	SE	12:00	9.5 °C	13.9 °C	60
Jul	11%	21%	18%	7.5 kt	WSW	13:00	8.9 °C	12.5 °C	62
Aug	8%	15%	10%	7.5 kt	N	14:00	8.9 °C	11.7 °C	62
Sep	15%	42%	30%	9.7 kt	WSW	15:00	10.9 °C	13.1 °C	60
Oct	19%	39%	32%	9.7 kt	NNW	14:00	12.3 °C	15.2 °C	62
Nov	12%	32%	22%	9 kt	N	14:00	14.7 °C	18 °C	60
Dec	15%	31%	26%	9.4 kt	N	14:00	17.4 °C	20.4 °C	62

How this is modelledmodelled · 2023-2024

A weather model's cell over this place, not a station on it. Good for comparing places, weaker for one beach.

A windy day has at least three consecutive daylight hours at 12 knots or more. The typical daily max and the direction are columns of the table above, month by month. Highlighted months are the riding season given for this spot.

High-resolution weather model (modelled) · Open-Meteo historical forecast archive — best-match operational model (ICON-D2 / AROME / ICON-EU / GFS by region), not a ground station · 2023-2024

The water

Type

mixed

Standing depth

Shallow clear water on the sand spit and front beach; deeper water in the channel.

Tides

Good at all tides in N, NE and NW wind. W and SW work best on the low incoming tide, until the sand bar covers at mid tide.

Temperature

19 °C summer · 12 °C winter

Modelled monthly average: 12–22 °C

Wetsuit

Neoprene for spring, autumn and winter, and for any summer day that is not one of the warm ones. Early-season water is around 12 °C.

Currents

The channel current runs hard, reportedly up to 6 knots on the outgoing tide.

Conditions

Tasman Bay is fairly sheltered and the shallow front beach warms in the sun. The channel current is the advanced-only part of this beach.

Your level

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

Lessons run on the sand spit and the front beach, and that water is easy to learn in. The channel is for experienced kitesurfers only.

The scene

What riders come here for

freerideflat watertidal current riding

Who it suitsbeginner

A family beach with a kite school on it, where riders share a zoned reserve with swimmers and everyone else using the sand.

Launch and rules

three ways on to the water, and what each one asks of you

With a school or a boat

2 schools work here

See who they are

On your own

Room to launch: wide

Read the access rules

Somewhere else

No nearby spot listed

No other spot in the atlas sits within reach of this one.

Rescue

Nothing organised covers the kite end of the beach. The schools watch their own lessons and nobody else, and no lifeguard patrol or kite-specific rescue for the western end is published. That gap matters most in the channel, where the ebb runs to 6 knots and a swim back is not on offer.

Launch

A wide sand beach, with kitesurfers directed to the western end of Tahunanui Beach Reserve.

Hazards riders report 10 reported

Crowds and zones

swimmers and other watersport users in adjacent zones
Swimmers in the designated eastern swimming zone
Watersports users in adjacent zones
The swimming-only zone inside the black buoys, which sailboards may not enter

Bottom

Shells on the flats

Waves and currents

Strong outgoing tidal current in the channel
Peak tidal flows should be avoided
Strong outgoing tidal current in the channel, up to 6 knots
Trees and bystanders behind the beach at high tide

Other

The 5-knot limit that applies south of the channel markers

Rules & access

1 min read

2026: the water rules come from Nelson City Council's Navigation Safety Bylaw 218, in force since 25 June 2020, whose Map 5 sets out the Tahunanui Beach recreation areas.

Swimming and crossing

The zone inside the black buoys north of the beach is swimming only: sailboards and motorised vessels are excluded, and non-motorised craft may cross it only by the access lane at its eastern end.

Speed limits

The 5-knot limit within 200 m of the shore applies to every vessel except a kite boarder or windsurfer north of the channel markers that define the main channel, and that exemption is what makes riding here legal at speed. Kite boarders are excused the lifejacket requirement only while a wetsuit or buoyancy vest is worn.

Beach zones

On the sand, kitesurfers use the western end of Tahunanui Beach Reserve and the eastern end is the swimming zone; a 2022 harbourmaster instruction also put kiteboarders 200 m down from the middle beach pathway over the pebbles. No kite-specific navigation safety notice was in force on the council's notice list as of 2025.

Access rules drift faster than anything else we hold — check locally, and propose an edit if this has changed.

Schools that ride here

Rider tips

Learn and progress on the sand spit and the front beach; leave the channel alone.
Stay out of the channel at peak tidal flow, when the ebb runs up to 6 knots.
Launch at the western end of Tahunanui Beach Reserve: the eastern end is the swimming zone.
In W or SW wind, go on the low incoming tide, before the sand bar covers at mid tide.
Ask Kitescool or Kitesurf Nelson what the channel and the zone boundaries are doing that day.
Use it as a base for the remote Golden Bay spots if you have days to spare.
Keep north of the channel markers: that is where the 5-knot limit stops applying to a kite.
Wear the wetsuit or a buoyancy vest and you are clear of the lifejacket rule; without either you are not.
Nobody is watching the water for you here, so ride within sight of someone.

Getting there

Airport

Nelson Airport (NSN)

Route

About 3 minutes by car from Nelson Airport and 5 minutes from Nelson city. The hourly eBus line 4 from Nelson Airport Terminal to Beach Road at Park takes about 6 minutes.

Transfer

6 min

Cost level

medium

Staying

Tahuna Beach Holiday Park is on the beach itself, with campsites, cabins and self-contained motel units.

No-wind days

Abel Tasman National Park, kayaking, the Great Taste Trail by bike, and the Nelson Tasman wineries, breweries and food producers.

Photos

Last updated: August 2026