Ocean Beach is a little bit more consistent than many of the nearby spots, and is generally still surfable when other places are flat or choppy. It has a really good atmosphere and is suitable for everybody although those with a lot of experience may not find it much of a challenge.
The beach is a decent size, consisting of clean golden sand on the edge of a large grassy area. It is a fairly popular place to come at weekend and will often be crowded, although if you can get out here on a weekday you will find that it is virtually empty.
The conditions here are best when the wind is blowing from the south-east, Easter or north-east and the swell is coming from the north-west, west or south-west. It works on all tide positions and on both rising and falling tides, and the swell starts working at about 1 m and holds up to about 1.5 or 2 m. It is a beach break, both right and left, and the waves are hollow and also faster and more powerful than they look at first glance. The only downside is a short length, as it hardly ever gets beyond 50 m here.
As usual the beach offers no facilities of its own although you can of course camp here or on the grass nearby if you wish. There are a few houses nearby but calling it a town is pushing it - you will need to drive back up to Whangerai for anything of a decent size.
Just watch out for the currents here, especially as the tide is turning as they can get fairly strong.