What is the best time of day to snorkel in Cathedral Cove?

Snorkel in daylight, if possible in the morning before the wind picks up. Currents are often weaker near high slack tide. SnorkelForecast scores each daylight hour for Cathedral Cove.

What is the best tide for snorkeling?

High slack tide, within about an hour of the high-tide peak, often has weaker currents. Strong low tides and tidal flow near channels or headlands reduce the score.

Cathedral Cove Snorkel Report Today

New Zealand · Updated Sun 18:24 (NZDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Poor Data updated Sun 18:24 (NZDT)

Cathedral Cove has no good model window later today. Check the three-day outlook and official beach advisories.

Right now (forecast)

Poor · 2.1/10

Sun 19:00 (NZDT)

Later today

No fresh data for this period.

Next three days

Good · 5.9/10

Wed 17:00 (NZDT)

Model estimates using Open-Meteo; not observations or safety guarantees. Check official advisories and conditions at the beach.

Score: 0.0/10

Best time: -

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

No useful afternoon window is showing yet.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:59

Sunset

19:17

Water

15.5°C

Max air

11.4°C

Sky

Cloudy

100% cloud

Good model window in the next 72 hours

Next good model window: Tue 19:00 (7% of the next 72h meets the model threshold)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Sunday

❌ Poor conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Monday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Tuesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Sea temperature

Best available hours

The next good model window starts at Tue 19:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Sea temperature (70 hours)
Darkness (51 hours)
Waves (41 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

Drift estimate from wind, swell, current and warm water.

Low · 12/100

Low peak drift risk around Mon 10:00.

surface drift/current is noticeable; local shoreline exposure is not mapped yet.

Sightings override the model: if you see small purple jellyfish with long trailing tentacles, treat them as sting-capable and give them space.

Upcoming high tides

Next early morning high tide: Mon 08:00

Sun 20:00, Mon 08:00, Mon 20:00, Tue 09:00, Tue 21:00, Wed 10:00

Nearby alternatives in New Zealand

Goat Island

108 km away

❌ Poor

Poor Knights Islands

179 km away

✅ Good

Bay of Islands

235 km away

✅ Good

Abel Tasman

511 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Sun 19:00 – Wed 19:00 (NZDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.62 around Mon 18:00; 7 of 24 hours are good, fair, or excellent.

Score trend, higher is better. Excellent ≥ 0.72, good 0.55–0.72, fair 0.35–0.55.

Conditions (24h trends)

Tap a chart to load just that series.

24/24 sampled hours stay at or below 0.36m (range 0.2m to 0.34m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 0.39 to 5.0m/s).

Tides range from -0.8m to 1.05m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Sun 19:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Mon 19:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Mon 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 12:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 13:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 14:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 16:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Tue 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Tue 19:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Tue 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Wed 12:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 13:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 14:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 16:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Wed 17:00 Good 🌟 Good

Wed 18:00 Good 🌟 Good

Scoring methodology (for technical users)

We score each hour from 0 to 1 using daylight and these weighted components:

Wave height (35%): best below 0.36m, then decreases as it rises.
Wind speed (25%): best below 5.4m/s, lower is better.
Sea surface temperature (15%): best within 20.6°C to 30.4°C.
Tide and currents (15%): best around slack/high-tide windows.
Daylight (10%): visibility is better in daylight, so night hours score lower.

Detailed hourly data table

Time	Wave (m)	Wind (m/s)	Sea temp (°C)	Status
Sun 19:00	0.34 · good	4.40 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Sun 20:00	0.30 · good	4.94 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Sun 21:00	0.28 · good	5.00 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Sun 22:00	0.28 · good	4.41 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Sun 23:00	0.28 · good	4.09 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 00:00	0.26 · good	3.18 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 01:00	0.24 · good	2.09 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 02:00	0.24 · good	1.96 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 03:00	0.22 · good	2.12 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 04:00	0.22 · good	2.04 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 05:00	0.20 · good	1.95 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 06:00	0.20 · good	0.39 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 07:00	0.20 · good	0.43 · good	15.30 · out of range	Poor
Mon 08:00	0.20 · good	2.00 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 09:00	0.20 · good	2.80 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 10:00	0.20 · good	3.08 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Mon 11:00	0.20 · good	3.61 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Mon 12:00	0.20 · good	4.54 · good	15.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 13:00	0.20 · good	4.56 · good	15.50 · out of range	Good
Mon 14:00	0.20 · good	4.87 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 15:00	0.20 · good	4.81 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 16:00	0.20 · good	4.35 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 17:00	0.22 · good	3.83 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 18:00	0.22 · good	2.83 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Mon 19:00	0.24 · good	2.62 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Mon 20:00	0.24 · good	2.60 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Mon 21:00	0.26 · good	2.28 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Mon 22:00	0.26 · good	1.92 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Mon 23:00	0.22 · good	1.81 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Tue 00:00	0.22 · good	1.52 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 01:00	0.22 · good	1.57 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 02:00	0.22 · good	1.63 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 03:00	0.22 · good	1.70 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 04:00	0.22 · good	1.61 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 05:00	0.22 · good	1.48 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 06:00	0.22 · good	1.66 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 07:00	0.22 · good	2.08 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 08:00	0.24 · good	1.46 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Tue 09:00	0.24 · good	0.81 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Tue 10:00	0.24 · good	0.82 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Tue 11:00	0.24 · good	2.20 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Tue 12:00	0.24 · good	3.11 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 13:00	0.24 · good	3.26 · good	15.60 · out of range	Fair
Tue 14:00	0.26 · good	2.97 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Tue 15:00	0.26 · good	2.80 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Tue 16:00	0.26 · good	2.44 · good	15.60 · out of range	Fair
Tue 17:00	0.26 · good	1.90 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 18:00	0.26 · good	0.67 · good	15.60 · out of range	Good
Tue 19:00	0.26 · good	0.18 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Tue 20:00	0.26 · good	0.58 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Tue 21:00	0.26 · good	1.01 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Tue 22:00	0.26 · good	1.22 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Tue 23:00	0.26 · good	1.58 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 00:00	0.26 · good	1.57 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 01:00	0.26 · good	2.07 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 02:00	0.26 · good	2.33 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 03:00	0.26 · good	2.15 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Wed 04:00	0.26 · good	1.60 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Wed 05:00	0.26 · good	1.47 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Wed 06:00	0.26 · good	0.89 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Wed 07:00	0.26 · good	1.32 · good	15.40 · out of range	Poor
Wed 08:00	0.24 · good	0.97 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 09:00	0.24 · good	1.32 · good	15.50 · out of range	Poor
Wed 10:00	0.24 · good	1.86 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 11:00	0.24 · good	1.76 · good	15.60 · out of range	Poor
Wed 12:00	0.24 · good	1.91 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Wed 13:00	0.24 · good	1.92 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Wed 14:00	0.24 · good	2.61 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Wed 15:00	0.24 · good	3.76 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Wed 16:00	0.24 · good	3.80 · good	15.70 · out of range	Fair
Wed 17:00	0.26 · good	3.57 · good	15.70 · out of range	Good
Wed 18:00	0.26 · good	2.40 · good	15.70 · out of range	Good