LAKE CLEARWATER CAMPING SURFARI 2025

Trip Report

An extended stay at Lake Clearwater seems to become a fixture on our annual calendar. And why not, it's such a nice place with plenty of things to do. There is not only the lake with all the watersport options, but also fantastic mountainbiking and hiking.

We time our stay around the annual CWA (Canterbury Windsports Association) Womens Weekend at Lake Clearwater end of February. The weather tends to be warm and settled, with mainly Easterly thermals in the afternoon. Though there is always a chance of getting a few days of strong Northwesterly winds, which are great fun on the windsurfer. This year was no different.

CWA Womens Weekend:

When we arrived at Lake Clearwater this year late afternoon a few days before the CWA womens weekend was kicking off, we were greeted with a beautiful Northwest wind. Fortunately setting up camp for us only consists of finding a levelled spot to park, nothing to really slow us down when we are keen to get on the water a couple of hours before sunset! Warm air and water, 25 knots, stunning scenery, what more can you ask for?!?

Friday afternoon, the small casual campsite started filling up with people arriving for the Womens Weekend. The wind cooperated and we had a fantastic weekend with lots of fellow water wahine (and a few men that snuck in ;-)). It was a great vibe with bike rides in the morning before the wind kicked in, then plenty of winging and windsurfing, followed by a delicious potluck dinner on Saturday in the Community Hall. Being a Womens weekend, the guys had to sort themselves out – which they did with their own little party at one of the baches.

Alex did bring his Foildrive, so we could have a play on it on Sunday morning on neighbouring Lake Camp (no motorised watercraft allowed on Lake Clearwater). It was the first time for me on a Foildrive (or any sort of electric foil) and I found it very different to wingfoiling. With the power supply to the foil rather than coming from the wing, the trim of the whole board was very different. Thank you Alex, I always love trying something new!

The wind came up again after lunch and those that didn’t have commitments to go to had another fantastic day of Easterlies before the campsite cleared out again on Sunday night. We had our inaugural Lake Clearwater Camping Surfari planned for the following weekend, so we had about 5 days to relax and play.

The following days are a bit of a blur of biking around the lake in the morning (we didn’t want to go too far and wear ourselves out too much) and windsurfing and winging in the afternoon. It was windy every day bar one (which was a most welcome rest day). The forecast for the following weekend, our Lake Clearwater Camping Surfari, shaped up nicely. If anything, there might be too much wind!

Inaugural Lake Clearwater Camping Surfari:

As it is often with inaugural trips, we had a very small group of early adopters. Jayne, Rod and Howard arrived on Friday afternoon, in time for the Easterly wind to pick up and defy the Northwest forecast. It was a perfect 18 knots, picking up some more later in the afternoon. Though after a few hours on the water, dinner was very much welcomed and we retired to the Community Hall to enjoy a meal and a few glasses of wine.

Saturday and Sunday were both forecasted with a strong Northwest wind. Not crazy 40 knots, but building to mid to high 20ies during the day. For those less experienced, the secret to lighter wind was getting out of bed and on the water early, before it did get to strong. There were also times of lulls during the day when the conditions were more manageable for those that didn’t want too much wind.

For dinner on Saturday we went up to Mount Potts Lodge (rather than having dinner on the campground). The views from their terrace over the braided Rangitata River and the steep mountains behind are absolutely mindblowing.

The verdict for our Lake Clearwater Camping Weekend?

“Absolutely fabulous trip and can highly recommend. Great company and hosts in Heidi and Bevan. I’ll be back for more ” (Jayne)

It’s been a great weekend in a stunning place. We loved making new friends and are keen to organise another Lake Clearwater Camping Weekend for next year – sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know about it!