NZ Herald Headlines | Saturday, January 17, 2026.
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Many Auckland beaches are still unsafe to swim in because of recent heavy rain triggering wastewater overflows throughout the region.
Black flags are “do not swim” warnings which show when wastewater has been detected, while red flags advise against swimming and identify water that fails to meet national standards.
Popular beaches such as Herne Bay, Kohimarama, Mission Bay, Narrow Neck and St Heliers which were under a “do not swim” warning yesterday remain under the same warning today.
More than 20 beaches around Auckland have this status placed on them, but there are beaches across the city that have been identified as safe to swim in.
Ōkahu Bay, Cheltenham and Takapuna are some of the popular beaches that are considered to have good water quality and are safe to swim in, despite having warnings that swimming was “not advised” yesterday.
Many beaches across Auckland are still considered unsafe to swim in despite some improvement in water quality. Photo / Swimsafe
A spokesman for Auckland Council told the Herald most beaches will start to have improved water quality tomorrow.
“The bulk of rainfall was late Thursday and it commonly takes 24-48 hours for water quality to return to normal,” he said.
“Depending on individual beach characteristics, without further rainfall we anticipate beach swim locations will start to turn green (safe to swim) from tomorrow.”
Takapuna Beach's water quality has improved enough for it to be considered safe to swim in. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
He also encouraged everyone to check the Safeswim app or website in dry and wet weather conditions to ensure they have the latest information.
In a statement previously given to the Herald, Holly Foreman, principal of Safeswim, said not all of Auckland’s beaches respond in the same way to rainfall events.
“This is due to the rainfall, catchment areas, differences in the land and that each beach is unique,” Foreman said.
“Each beach has a different combination of rainfall received, catchment type and flushing rate which means the water quality effect, and how long it takes to recover will vary.”
