Porpoise Bay.

Porpoise Bay is a rivermouth beachbreak sitting at the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island, tucked inside Curio Bay on the Catlins coast. The setup delivers a reliable selection of hollow and powerful A-frame peaks breaking over a sand bottom, with a bombie adding variety on bigger swells. Waves run from 2 to 2.4m and hold up across all tide stages, though incoming tide tends to produce the cleanest shape. Ride length commonly reaches 50 to 100 metres, giving surfers room to work sections. The best conditions arrive on south swells - the SE to SW window is wide - cleaned up by a westerly wind. Despite the quality on offer, the lineup is almost never crowded, making it a dependable stop on any Catlins road trip. The experience level skews beginner-friendly on smaller days, though hollow, fast sections and occasional rip currents mean intermediates will get the most out of the place. Localism is non-existent. The bay is also home to one of the world's rarest cetaceans: Hector's dolphins regularly surf the same waves, making sessions here unlike anywhere else on earth. The surrounding Catlins landscape - native bush, sea cliffs, fossil forest - adds to the sense of complete isolation.

Hollow A-frames where Hector's dolphins share the lineup at the world's edge.