Bay of Plenty Regional Council's wave buoy will be out of the water for several months as the internal computer gets a makeover.

The buoy, which sits 13km off Pukehina Beach, monitors and records information about wave heights, water temperature and wave frequency.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council's wave buoy needs maintenance.

The live data is shared on the council's website and is popular with boaties and surfers in the region.

This time the buoy is out of action while the buoy's 14-year-old computer is repaired, says Regional Council Data Services Manager Glenn Ellery.

The computer repairs will take a few months but council hope to have it ready in time for summer.

"Like any computer facing its 14th birthday, the wave buoy computer is requiring maintenance more regularly. With the specialist parts needing to come from Canada it will be a few months before we have that live data streaming back online,” says Glenn.

The wave buoy is regularly out of action.

On July 28, 2015, SunLive reported the wave buoy was back in the water after an absence of five months. It was removed from the water in February 2015 after developing a fault in the component that measures wave height, period and wave direction.

On October 8, 2014, Sunlive reported the wave buoy was back inaction after being washed up on a beach in July 2014.

Glenn says they had to obtain parts from oversea, and the opportunity was taken to the buoy a good overhaul and service.

'We also replaced the mooring, including the very specialised bungy that allows us to measure wave height.”