The surface water movements just described give rise to the coastal current pattern illustrated in the map below. It must be pointed out, however, that the circulation pattern is generalised and that at any one time a particular current may be either strongly or weakly developed. Much more investigational work will be necessary before a complete description of the currents can be given.

Three currents arise from the movement of subtropical water in the Trade Wind Drift. These are the East Auckland Current, the West Auckland Current, and the East Cape Current, all of which are southgoing. The East Cape Current lies offshore except where it meets the coast some distance south of East Cape.

The Tasman Current gives rise to two coastal currents, the Westland Current which flows northward along the west coast of New Zealand until it meets the West Auckland Current, and the Southland Current which flows east through Foveaux Strait and then north along the Otago coast. The water in these currents may be described as being modified subtropical water since it has been transported well south over a long distance and has different characteristics from the subtropical water found in, say, the East Cape Current. A branch of the Westland Current enters Cook Strait from the west and is called the D'Urville Current, so named because the famous navigator, Dumont d'Urville, on an occasion in 1827, was the first to note its existence when his ship was unexpectedly carried by the current well into Cook Strait from the west. The Canterbury Current is a cool, north-flowing current which contains water from the Southland Current, together with Sub-Antarctic Water of the West Wind Drift which has upwelled from below the surface. This current can extend as far north as Gisborne.