Surf Raglan

Raglan: surf captial

Cafes, art galleries, and surf shops dot the small town,  and in the evening the cafes transform into jazz bars with a wide variety of live local music, many of N.Z.'s top musicians use Raglan as a place to unwind, recharge and re-energize. One thing's for sure, what ever is happening in Raglan, you can be sure it's happening Raglan style!

Raglan is situated at the mouth of Whaanga Harbour in the heart of the Waikato dairy farming district. The Waikato boasts the most productive farmland in the world producing more milk per acre than anywhere else on the planet. Don't be fooled into thinking its all about rotating milk sheds and cow pats though, there's a lot more to Raglan than just dairy farming, there's a whole host of activities including: tandem paragliding, horse riding, jet boat harbour tours and fishing.

Of course no surf resort would be complete with out beach hire and surf lessons. The beach hire operates from Ngarunui Beach, (hit Raglan, turn left at 'the' intersection and head straight for about 2km, you'll see the sign), they have a huge range of equipment from boards the size of battleships to thrusters and boogy boards as well as a wide range of wetsuits.

Karioi Lodge

Situated on the side of Mt Karioi at Whale bay is the Karioi Lodge and outdoor centre. The lodge has a wide range of accommodation from dorms to doubles. If you feel like a little treat they also offer some wicked doubles next door at their sleeping lady luxury accommodation. The views are just mind blowing and the hospitality very much equal to the task.

Karioi lodge is an awesome place just to kick back and relax, with native birds cruising around from tree to tree, immersed in native bush and glow worms lining the drive way at night time, it's pretty hard not to relax. Karioi lodge is also home to the Raglan surf school. These guys are the best in the business! They have special boards designed specifically for learners that almost anyone can stand on in a day. The crew are made up from some of New Zealand's best surfers and instructors. What's most important though, is they're totally passionate about what they do and want to share the joys of surfing with you!  The lodge also has a number of wicked bush walks. Raglan Rock around 800m above sea level offers magical views of the Tasman sea and west coast.

Links

Check out the following links:

• Surf at Raglan
• Visit the Karioi Lodge

Favourite Spot in NZ - Aisha (Ace Wellington)

Raglans a great place, there's excellent people there especially in the summer and I learned to surf there.