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Left-breaking point wave located on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, near Auckland; the country's most famous break, capable of producing rides of nearly surreal length; named in a 1989 Surfing magazine article as one of the "25 Best Waves in the World." 

Raglan is made up of five separate surf spots—a beachbreak, a reefbreak, and three points—along the perimeter of a huge rock- and shrub-lined bay. Raglan Point, the innermost left-breaking wave, was the first area to be ridden, in 1959 by local surfer Peter Miller, who three years later opened the region's first surf shop. Raglan's remaining breaks came into play as the crowds grew. 

On the biggest and best-shaped days, the three point waves will occasionally link together to form a continuous wave in excess of two miles. On such occasions, local surfers take turns waiting at the base of the point to drive groups of their friends back to the starting area. 

Raglan is generally best during summer and fall, when four- to six-foot surf is fairly common and the water temperature is in the mid-60s. Raglan, named after a nearby town, first came to the attention of the surfing world in 1964 when it was featured in an early version of Bruce Brown's hit film The Endless Summer. "The rides are so long it's ridiculous," Brown narrates as the camera follows California surfer Robert August. "This is the middle part of the ride," he continues, before cutting to a second shot of August. "Later in the day, here's some more of the middle part of the ride." 

The Endless Summer crew surfed Raglan alone on Christmas Day, 1963, but crowds were moving in by the end of the decade. Within a few years, as a New Zealand surf journalist/photographer later wrote, a good day of surf would be met by surfers "scrambling down the hill like termites exiting a smoking tree." 

Raglan is host site to an annual event on the New Zealand Championship Circuit. The Raglan surf has been featured in a number of surf movies, including Coastal Disturbance (1994) and Static (2001). Local standouts as of 2003 include Luke Cederman and Sam Wills.

Raglan

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