Travel Editor Stephanie Holmes gets Tourism Minister Stuart Nash to pick his favourite beaches around the country. Do you agree with his choices? Have your say and nominate your favourites in the Herald’s Best Beach campaign. Find out how at the bottom of the page.
What do you think is the best family beach in New Zealand?
Without a question of a doubt, it’s got to be Mahia Beach on the Mahia Peninsula in Hawke’s Bay. It’s safe, and a beach with lot of beautiful white sand. It’s magic. There’s really good fishing, good crayfish! And plenty of sand to do whatever you want. I just love it, it doesn’t get any better. That’s where I’m taking my family this summer.
Where would your whānau go for beach holidays when you were growing up?
We often went to Mahia and we went to Anaura Bay, which is north of Gisborne. That’s a beautiful beach as well. It’s quite hidden, but it’s one of those hidden gems. We also used to go to Matapouri in Northland quite a lot. That’s a beautiful beach. Mind you, in this country, we’re spoilt for choice - there’s a nice beach within about two hours of anywhere. And if you live somewhere like Hawke’s Bay, you don’t even need to put much petrol in the car to get there and back and you can have a fantastic day in the sun.
Where is your favourite city beach in New Zealand?
I lived in Auckland for quite a long time, and it’s hard to go past some of the North Shore beaches. They are actually really nice: a lot of sand, a lot of things to do, you can just hop off the beach and there’s always a nice little cafe and you can grab a coffee or some fish and chips. So I’d have to pick some of those North Shore Auckland beaches. Which is hard for a Hawke’s Bay man to say. But you know, for the mass of the population, it doesn’t get much better, really, and they’re nice and close.
What’s your favourite surf beach?
I’m a very, very average long-board surfer or a stand-up paddle boarder, and I did quite a bit of that at Mangawhai Heads. But if you really want decent surf, it’s hard to beat Piha. You always get good surf, and there’s surf there for pretty much everyone, from your learners all the way through to your experienced surfers. And it’s pretty close to a good chunk of the population. I do love Piha, it’s a good beach.
Where are your favourite camping beaches?
It’s hard to go past Kaiteriteri. It’s about 90 minutes north of Nelson and it’s got everything. It’s got pōhutukawa trees, it’s reasonably safe. But the thing I love about that beach and the campground there is they’re into regenerative tourism and they understand that tourism is there to serve the community, and everyone is better if tourism is done really, really well. It’s picturesque, and they get it – they get tourism, and it is quintessential Kiwi. I love it.
What’s your favourite hidden gem beach?
We used to go to Whangapoua quite a lot, which is on the Coromandel Peninsula. And you could walk up over the hill from Whangapoua beach and go to a little beach called New Chums. Now, a few people have heard of New Chums, but it is, again, quintessential New Zealand in that it is surrounded by bush, pōhutukawa trees, beautiful golden sand – it really is just a real hidden gem. And the great thing about is you can’t camp there, so it’s not as if there’s a whole lot of campervans or freedom campers there. It really is like something out of that Leonardo di Caprio movie, The Beach. It is just stunning.
Mind you, you’ve asked me some really hard questions, and the reason for that is because: Ōhope Beach. I used to go to Ōhope quite a lot, and just love that. But if I had to rank every single beach all around the country that I’ve been to, and stayed at over many, many years, I think Mahia is up there. There’s a number of fantastic, safe, sunny beaches with pōhutukawa... but at Mahia, it’s the crayfish. The crayfish you get at Mahia – stunning. Not only do you have a fantastic time swimming in the water, a bit of surfing, paddle boarding, boating ... you finish the day with a crayfish, if you have any sort of competency around putting on a couple of fins and a snorkel mask and getting down there and hunting them out. I love that place.
Will you have much time this summer to be getting out and about experiencing our great Kiwi beaches?
I will. I’ll take about three or four weeks off and I will go to Mahia. Again, it’s one of the reasons I call it the world’s best beach, and certainly New Zealand’s best beach, because I do spend a lot of time there, and you’ve got choice, right? You can throw the kids in the car and drive them eight hours or you can drive them two hours. Mahia’s about 170km from Napier so it’s about two hours, two hours 20, and it really is a stunning place to unwind, grab a Jack Reacher novel, lie on the beach – lather up with sunblock, of course, put on a hat, be sunsmart! - and just relax and enjoy everything that is fantastic about the wonderful Kiwi summer that we have here. I love it.
The Herald is searching for New Zealand’s Best Beach 2023 and we need your help.
The Best Beach series runs through January and it starts with you. We want you to nominate your favourite beaches from around the country in these five categories:
You can nominate one contender in each category and tell us a little bit about why you think they deserve to win. You can also send us a favourite photo of you and your whānau enjoying these great summer spots.
Nominations are open until the end of Sunday, January 8. From there, your entries will be counted and the 10 most popular nominees in each of the five categories will be named as our finalists. You will then be able to vote for the ultimate winners in each category, which will be crowned at the end of the month. To find the form and read more Best Beach stories, go to nzherald.co.nz/bestbeach