"I love the relaxed feeling you get from living here with the ocean on my back doorstep."
Local musician Vaughan Tindall said he loved cruising over to the Mount from his Pyes Pa home.
"There is nothing like walking barefoot on to the sand and then wading out into the water and having a good swim."
Otumoetai College student Tanika Sowry said she loved hanging out on Mount Main Beach around sunset.
"When I go there it helps me clear my head, there is something about it and I just feel free. The water always makes me feel better, no matter what is happening."
Papamoa resident Faith McMah said she and her beau, Paul, got married on the Papamoa Boardwalk earlier this month.
"We both love the beach and our girls love it too so we thought, why not. I was brought up around the beach, I could live out on the sea and Paul just enjoys the sea and sand, it's magical here."
The family tried to get down to the beach once or twice a week to enjoy the scenery, have a coffee and take the dog for a walk.
Mother-of-two Angela Dickinson said it was such a great location for young families.
She had been living in Papamoa for the last two years, moving up from Wellington.
Although she missed the culture of the capital city, the family enjoyed accessibility of beaches in the Bay.
"Papamoa is a really cool beach, it's right up there with the best beaches in New Zealand," she said.
Mount Maunganui was also named as one of the Top 5 beaches in the South Pacific.
TripAdvisor's 2017 Travellers' Choice Awards Top 10 New Zealand Beaches:
1. Mount Maunganui Beach - Mount Maunganui
2. Piha Beach - Piha
3. Oriental Bay - Wellington
4. Ninety Mile Beach - Kaitaia
5. Whangamata Beach - Whangamata
6. Ohope Beach - Whakatane
7. Takapuna Beach - Auckland
8. Kaiteriteri Beach - Kaiteriteri
9. St Heliers Beach - Auckland
10. Papamoa Beach - Papamoa
