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Goat Island and the northern beaches
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 Goat Island
Spend a day exploring the beautiful northern beaches and try snorkeling at the Goat Island Marine Reserve. This really is the perfect summer day trip or alternatively if you have a little more time, base yourself for a weekend at Goat Island Camping & Backpackers.
Get out of town!
Cross the Harbour Bridge and head north on highway 1. Turn right at Warkworth and then choose where you want to go (see next what to DO).
Travel Times
Approximately 1 hour north of Auckland is Warkworth. This funky little town provides the gateway to an amazing stretch of coastline boasting a number of fantastic beaches. You could easily spend a day exploring them all.
Accomodation
There are two excellent accomodation options near Leigh. The Leigh Sawmill Café has backpackers accommodation while the Goat Island Camping & Backpackers is also a great place to stay (and is 5 minutes closer to the beach).
Food and drink
The Leigh Sawmill Café is also a very funky café and bar which serves great food and often has live NZ music in the evenings. Check if any bands are playing at the Leigh Saw Mill Café. If there is why not make a weekend of it? In Leigh itself there is a few smaller shops which sell supplies and takeaways.
Omaha Beach
- A sweet sweep of white sand. Omaha has become heavily developed in recent times but is still a beautiful beach. It can have nice waves for surfing too.
Tawharanui Regional Park
- More rugged and remote Tawharanui is a good surf beach with a variety of excellent walks. There is also a DOC campground here.
Matheson Bay
- This little beach is sheltered and offers good swimming. There is a surprisingly nice little bush walk that heads up the valley behind the beach. Check it out.
Goat Island
- Just past Leigh is the Goat Island Marine Reserve. This area is a haven for marine life (the University of Auckland even has a marine laboratory here). It's well worth staying out there, Goat Island Camping & Backpackers is the perfect place to stay and it's still very close to Leigh.
Pakiri Beach
- A long wild surf beach Pakiri is beautiful. You can rent horses here and ride along this slice of paradise. Alternatively it is a great place to walk, swim and play frisbie.
One person has added a comment. 1. Goat Island, not GOOT Island!
Big Z, Unregistered When you wanna get outta Auckland for a bit, Goat Island is where the party's at. PS. No goats on goat island.
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