Best Beach 2023: NZ’s top 50 finalists revealed. How to vote for the winners. Video / NZ Herald
Herald readers have nominated their top 10 hidden gem beaches around the country. Now it’s time to vote for the winner. Read on to find out how.
Beaches that you’ll need to zoom Google Maps to 200 per cent view to locate. Places that you can reach only on foot, or by boat or kayak. Even a beach with its own Gothic ghost story …
These are the 10 secret places and hidden gems around New Zealand’s coast that our readers voted as their favourite getaway spots, although they won’t be too secret after today.
It’s your turn to vote for the best of the best. You’ll find the easy form at the bottom of this page, or go to nzherald.co.nz/bestbeach now.
Te Arai and its three neighbouring beaches mark the point where Auckland becomes Northland. Te Arai and its regional park is the largest and best-known; its neighbour is largely off the radar.
Once you leave SH1 it’s a bumpy and dusty journey to the beautiful beach, clear water with good sets of swell coming in, so bring your surf or boogie boards.
There are no facilities here so bring what you need and take everything away. With a certified self-contained vehicle you can stay for three nights in the regional park, just over the hill on Te Arai Beach.
Maitai Bay, Northland
Clean, crystal-clear waters; white, soft sand; scorching hot sun (that’s a hope, not a promise) and not a lot else. Maitai Bay on the tip of the Far North’s Karikari Peninsula is the quintessential Kiwi summer holiday spot.
You’ll leave the built-up peninsula behind for the 100-site DOC campground nestled among native bush, waves crashing metres away, perfect for doing nothing or doing a lot of water-based stuff.
Northland's glorious Maitai Bay is one of NZ's top 10 hidden gem beaches. But is it your number one? Photo / David Kirkland
Orokawa Bay, Bay of Plenty
Another boundary line: Orakawa is the northernmost point of the Bay of Plenty, a secluded, pōhutukawa-fringed, unspoilt beach with no vehicle access that you’ll likely have all to yourself.
You get there by a 45-minute, not too taxing, walk from Waihī Beach (first trap for beginners: at high tide, you may not be able to reach the track). When you reach the bay, you’ll be blown away by the spectacular white-sand beach. But - second trap - the seafloor’s steep gradient and potential rips mean it’s not safe for swimming.
Orokawa Bay, a pōhutukawa-lined beach north of Waihī Beach. Photo / File
Ōtarawairere Bay, Bay of Plenty
Just a headland away from its more famous cousin Ōhope and only accessible on foot or by boat, Ōtarawairere makes a great family day out. To get there, take an easy 20-minute stroll from Ōhope West End. There are plenty of Insta moments on the way.
Once there, divers, swimmers and beachcombers enjoy sheltered waters, rock pools, shell-collecting and chilling out. It’s best to go at low tide.
Pokohino Beach, Coromandel
Pokohino is 20 minutes’ drive up the coast from buzzy Whangamatā and couldn’t be more different. To get there, head for Ōnemana, turn left at the top of the hill and follow a gravel road through Tairua forest until you reach a carpark.
From there, clamber down a steep track (there are ropes to help). Your reward is finding a beautiful, tiny bay with a safe, sandy-bottomed surf beach. Take everything you need for the day; no flash cafes and public loos here.
Yes, you have to climb back up and they lock the gates at 7pm.
Taupō Bay, Northland
Near Mangonui, this beach is described as “one of Northland’s best”, and they do beaches pretty well. It’s wide, slopes gradually into the sea, and curves for 1.5km.
The bay rears into shrub-covered mountains just 150m from the beach. Surfers, fishers, boaties and families reckon it’s worth the trek; be aware it’s prone to strong rips and there’s no lifeguard service.
This is the one that’s got a Gothic ghost story. Following the 15-minute drive from the city centre to the carpark, you’ll walk through the long, dark tunnel built in 1876 by local landed gentleman, John Cargill to the beautiful beach below. Best to visit during low tide. Not safe for swimming, and no room for the ghost story. Look it up!
Whiritoa Beach, Coromandel
Smack on SH25 between Waihī and Whangamatā, Whiritoa is a small settlement with not many permanent residents, quite a few baches, a small dairy and that laidback, old-time NZ feel.
Keep your wits about you if you’re going in the water. The 1.5km beach is popular with experienced surfers but the shore is steep and waves sometimes break on the sand, making it difficult for swimmers.
Whiritoa Beach at daybreak. Photo / Alex Robertson
Wainuiototo Bay (New Chum Beach), Coromandel
Voted in the world’s top 10 beaches to visit, this jewel still has a Kiwi, small-beach vibe, largely because it takes a half-hour walk from the nearest town, Whangapoua.
This protected stretch of untouched land has no buildings, no roads, no infrastructure or camping. Locals and regulars helped buy 30ha of the northern headland that was in danger of development last year. Not any more.
Whale Bay, Tūtūkākā
Neighbouring Matapōuri is better known but Whale Bay is worth the effort it takes to get there, either walking 10-15 minutes through a coastal bush track from the bay carpark, or walking from Matapōuri along a farm/bush loop track, a half-day trip.
