Surfcasting rod + reel options for beginner

				Gday all, forum newbie here. I'm a long-time trout angler, mostly fishing on spinning gear, but with water levels and rock snot affecting my local rivers I've been getting out to the beach across the road for my fix.
I've been wading out and fishing shallows (no more than 1-1.5m deep, if that) with my trout rod and soft bait with zero luck, so figured it's time to spring for a basic surfcasting setup.

Combos within budget seem to be glass/graphite composite - to begin with I'm looking at a Shimano 12; Eclipse + Hyperloop 6000 reel, or an Okuma Revenger 12' with matching 80 reel. Otherwise, I'm happy to buy secondhand if something crops up locally, but don't know a heap about matching rods to reels and so on. 

I'll be fishing pretty shallow, calm-ish sandy beaches on the Kapiti Coast, targeting kahawai and snapper primarily. Will be using mono to start with as that's what I'm familiar with, but keen to try out braid eventually once I get the hang of things.

Any advice or opinions on the above gear (or otherwise) would be greatly appreciated!

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Surfcasting rod + reel options for beginner

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