Avon Beach Windsurfing Guide
General info
Windsurfing ratings
Avon Beach Gallery
Avon Beach is a good bet for a steady day's windsurfing partly because it is a very versatile beach but also because it is a safe environment to push your skills. This will be reflected in the number of windsurfers and kitesurfers out on the water!
You can pretty much guarantee that along this section of coastline, Avon Beach will be the easiest spot to windsurf or kitesurf. Unlike Southbourne or Highcliffe, there is no challenging shorebreak and generally not much water moving around. The above factors make Avon Beach very suitable for everyone from beginners to advanced windsurfers and kitesurfers.
It is an especially good place to break in to wave sailing because the sand bar is shallow enough to kick up a wave even if there is not much swell running. It also serves as one of the best locations for getting your sea legs for the first time.
Features
A few times a year, Avon beach is transformed in to an epic down the line Starboard tack break. For people who haven't experienced it, this may be difficult to believe but the wave can be logo high on a storm swell and peel for a very long time. With a high period swell (approx' over 13 seconds), the waves tend to wrap on the bar and peel a good 100 metres.
To enjoy these conditions, it is necessary to windsurf here in a storm swell with a high period. Alternatively a wave height of about 4m+ and a lower period can create some less surfer ridable waves but good nonetheless. The building up of the sandbanks has led to Avon Beach also becoming popular with Surfers as an option when everywhere else is blown out. It is more of a Mini-Mal wave except on rare occasions.
The easiest way to bag these conditions it to look out for the rare Avon Beach Bigsalty 3 Star Wave Rating and make sure you don't miss it. Also look out for southerlies at Avon beach. Generally speaking Southerlies at Avon Beach work the best out of anywhere else in a 20 mile radius.
Considerations
If there has been a particularly heavy rainfall, Avon beach is subjected to the deluge from Christchurch Harbour combined with storm overflows on an outgoing tide. This has the result of making the tidal pull quite strong in the direction of Highcliffe/ Steamer Point but also the less desirable effect of creating a poor water quality that tends to smell.
Overall water quality at Avon beach is good and this occurs on rare occasions.