Whangarei
17.89°C
Whangarei
17.89°C
Waitakere City
16.98°C
Manukau City
17.11°C
Papakura
24.46°C
Hauraki
17.26°C
Waikato
17.67°C
Matamata
18.46°C
Hamilton
17.51°C
Otorohanga
18.52°C
Rotorua
16.6°C
Taupo
15.44°C
Tauranga
19.27°C
Kawerau
18.6°C
Whakatane
19.64°C
Gisborne
15.51°C
New Plymouth
16.98°C
Stratford
8.97°C
Ruapehu
14°C
Wanganui
17°C
Palmerston North
16.41°C
Wairoa
19.19°C
Hastings
18.84°C
Napier
18.49°C
Masterton
15.49°C
Carterton
15.66°C
Porirua
15.99°C
Lower Hutt
16.45°C
Wellington
15.79°C
Tasman
9.35°C
Nelson
16.27°C
Marlborough
3.22°C
Kaikoura
15.48°C
Christchurch
12.59°C
Ashburton
12.52°C
Timaru
13.37°C
Waitaki
11.32°C
Waimate
13.08°C
Queenstown
12.38°C
Dunedin
14.33°C
Southland
9.98°C
Gore
11.31°C
Invercargill
12.06°C
Blenheim
14.73°C
Te Anau
27.35°C
Wanaka
11.17°C
Kaikoura
13.38°C
Stratford
13.54°C
Upper Hutt
15.9°C
About
Ninety-Mile Beach is the fabled strip of sand that stretches from Ahipara to Scott Point, five kilometres south of Cape Maria van Diemen. Truth be told, it is actually 88 kilometres long.
This beach is officially a highway, but is really only suitable for 4WD vehicles and is safe to drive only at specific times of the tides. Rental companies won’t allow their cars on the sand, mostly for safety reasons. The easy way to drive along the beach is to catch a coach tour from Kaitaia. If you are short of time in Northland and staying in the Bay of Islands, coach tours and scenic flights up to Cape Reinga depart from Paihia daily. Beach activities range from surfcasting and swimming to bodyboarding down the sand dunes. A special treat is digging for tuatua (a native shellfish) in the sand at low tide. Flanking the beach is the Aupouri Forest, which provides a green escape from the hot sun.
Once a year in late February or early March, 90 Mile Beach hosts a five day fishing competition. Hundreds of anglers surf cast from the beach hoping to catch the biggest snapper, a delicious white-flesh fish found in New Zealand waters.