What is the best time of day to snorkel in Poor Knights Islands?

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 Poor Knights Islands.

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.

MARINE REPORT / 72 HOURS

Poor Knights Islands Snorkel Report Today

New Zealand · Updated Tue 08:40 (NZDT) · Source: Snapshot

The skinny

Go in the best window Data updated Tue 08:40 (NZDT)

Poor Knights Islands has a usable snorkeling window around Tue 16:00. The main thing to watch is waves.

Right now (forecast)

Poor · 0.0/10

Tue 09:00 (NZDT)

Later today

Good · 5.6/10

Tue 16:00 (NZDT)

Next three days

Good · 5.6/10

Tue 16:00 (NZDT)

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

Score: 5.6/10

Best time: Tue 16:00

Main risk: Waves

No useful morning window is showing yet.

Best afternoon signal: Tue 16:00 (Good). Peak afternoon wind is about 4.1 m/s.

Email me when it is good

Sunrise

06:33

Sunset

19:39

Water

16.7°C

Max air

16.1°C

Sky

Clear

2% cloud

Good model window in the next 72 hours

Next good model window: Tue 16:00 (1% of the next 72h meets the model threshold)

3-day planner Best available Show data

3-day planner

Tuesday

✅ Good conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Wednesday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Thursday

⚠️ Fair conditions

Main blocker: Waves

Best available hours

The next good model window starts at Tue 16:00.

Why this verdict

Main blockers across the next 72 hours:

Waves (70 hours)
Sea temperature (70 hours)
Darkness (49 hours)

Jellyfish drift risk

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

Low · 15/100

Low peak drift risk around Wed 02:00.

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: Wed 03:00

Tue 15:00, Wed 03:00, Wed 16:00, Thu 04:00, Thu 17:00, Fri 05:00

Nearby alternatives in New Zealand

Bay of Islands

65 km away

✅ Good

Goat Island

89 km away

✅ Good

Cathedral Cove

179 km away

✅ Good

Abel Tasman

621 km away

✅ Good

Advanced forecast data

Viewing historical data

Thu 09:00 – Sun 09:00 (NZDT)

Previous day Yesterday Next day Live

Snorkel Score (selected 24h)

Best snorkel score is 0.58 around Thu 16:00; 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 0.26m to 0.32m).

Wind is at or below 5.4m/s in 24/24 sampled hours (range 1.14 to 4.9m/s).

Tides range from -0.93m to 1.01m; 2 of 24 hours are in or near peak slack windows.

72-hour historical overview

Thu 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 12:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Thu 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Thu 15:00 Good 🌟 Good

Thu 16:00 Good 🌟 Good

Thu 17:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 18:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 19:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Thu 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Thu 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 12:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 13:00 Good 🌟 Good

Fri 14:00 Good 🌟 Good

Fri 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 16:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 17:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 18:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 19:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Fri 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Fri 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 09:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 10:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 11:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 12:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 13:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 14:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 15:00 Fair ⚠️ Fair

Sat 16:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 17:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 18:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 19:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 20:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 21:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 22:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sat 23:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 00:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 01:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 02:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 03:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 04:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 05:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 06:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 07:00 Poor ❌ Limited

Sun 08:00 Poor ❌ Limited

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
Thu 09:00	0.26 · good	3.76 · good	15.90 · out of range	Poor
Thu 10:00	0.26 · good	3.76 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Thu 11:00	0.26 · good	3.57 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Thu 12:00	0.26 · good	3.41 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Thu 13:00	0.26 · good	2.97 · good	16.20 · out of range	Good
Thu 14:00	0.26 · good	2.80 · good	16.20 · out of range	Good
Thu 15:00	0.26 · good	2.06 · good	16.20 · out of range	Good
Thu 16:00	0.26 · good	1.78 · good	16.30 · out of range	Good
Thu 17:00	0.26 · good	1.14 · good	16.30 · out of range	Fair
Thu 18:00	0.26 · good	1.26 · good	16.30 · out of range	Fair
Thu 19:00	0.26 · good	1.22 · good	16.30 · out of range	Fair
Thu 20:00	0.26 · good	1.64 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Thu 21:00	0.26 · good	2.10 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Thu 22:00	0.26 · good	2.04 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Thu 23:00	0.26 · good	2.30 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Fri 00:00	0.26 · good	3.01 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Fri 01:00	0.26 · good	4.79 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Fri 02:00	0.26 · good	4.90 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Fri 03:00	0.28 · good	4.16 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 04:00	0.28 · good	3.50 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 05:00	0.32 · good	3.97 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 06:00	0.30 · good	3.93 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 07:00	0.30 · good	3.75 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 08:00	0.30 · good	3.43 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Fri 09:00	0.28 · good	3.24 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Fri 10:00	0.28 · good	3.46 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Fri 11:00	0.28 · good	2.98 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Fri 12:00	0.26 · good	2.11 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Fri 13:00	0.26 · good	2.96 · good	16.30 · out of range	Good
Fri 14:00	0.26 · good	2.91 · good	16.40 · out of range	Good
Fri 15:00	0.26 · good	1.60 · good	16.40 · out of range	Fair
Fri 16:00	0.26 · good	1.30 · good	16.50 · out of range	Fair
Fri 17:00	0.26 · good	2.78 · good	16.50 · out of range	Fair
Fri 18:00	0.26 · good	2.74 · good	16.50 · out of range	Fair
Fri 19:00	0.26 · good	2.71 · good	16.50 · out of range	Fair
Fri 20:00	0.26 · good	2.86 · good	16.50 · out of range	Poor
Fri 21:00	0.28 · good	3.31 · good	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Fri 22:00	0.28 · good	4.37 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Fri 23:00	0.30 · good	4.53 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Sat 00:00	0.34 · good	4.48 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Sat 01:00	0.36 · good	5.17 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 02:00	0.38 · high	5.11 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 03:00	0.40 · high	4.70 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 04:00	0.42 · high	4.65 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 05:00	0.42 · high	5.32 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 06:00	0.42 · high	4.91 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 07:00	0.42 · high	4.79 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 08:00	0.42 · high	4.54 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 09:00	0.44 · high	4.25 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 10:00	0.44 · high	4.51 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 11:00	0.48 · high	5.05 · good	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 12:00	0.54 · high	5.80 · high	16.10 · out of range	Poor
Sat 13:00	0.58 · high	5.38 · good	16.20 · out of range	Poor
Sat 14:00	0.60 · high	2.83 · good	16.20 · out of range	Fair
Sat 15:00	0.62 · high	1.27 · good	16.30 · out of range	Fair
Sat 16:00	0.64 · high	2.94 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Sat 17:00	0.66 · high	4.85 · good	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Sat 18:00	0.70 · high	5.40 · good	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Sat 19:00	0.72 · high	6.52 · high	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Sat 20:00	0.74 · high	7.50 · high	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Sat 21:00	0.74 · high	6.12 · high	16.40 · out of range	Poor
Sat 22:00	0.76 · high	5.58 · high	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Sat 23:00	0.76 · high	5.15 · good	16.30 · out of range	Poor
Sun 00:00	0.64 · high	4.84 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 01:00	0.64 · high	5.77 · high	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 02:00	0.64 · high	5.43 · high	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 03:00	0.62 · high	5.37 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 04:00	0.62 · high	5.68 · high	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 05:00	0.66 · high	4.63 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 06:00	0.66 · high	4.21 · good	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 07:00	0.66 · high	7.31 · high	16.00 · out of range	Poor
Sun 08:00	0.68 · high	7.98 · high	16.00 · out of range	Poor