NZ’s Best Beach 2026: Toni Street, Julian Dennison, Ali Williams & more share their favourites

The Herald’s annual search for New Zealand’s Best Beach is now open and it’s your last chance to nominate your favourites - you’ve got until 11.59pm tonight. To inspire your nominations, we asked some well-known New Zealanders to share their favourites. Do you agree with their picks? Scroll to the bottom of this page to submit your own nominations in each of our five categories.

Ali Williams

I’ve always loved Taupō Bay in the Far North. It’s a huge, white sand beach that’s miles from the city, is never too busy, has rock pools either end to explore and is just a good spot to base yourself for exploring the rest of the region. I recommend the Duke’s Nose as a hike. It isn’t too far, is a good hike and a great little adventure.

Ali Williams is co-owner of Auckland FC, who take on the Central Coast Mariners at Mt Smart Stadium on January 24.

Whangamatā is Toni Street's favourite beach in New Zealand, and one she returns to every summer.

Toni Street

My favourite beach is one I go to every summer. I went as a kid, and now we take our family back there. Whangamatā. I love it because it’s really big, so you’re never really cramped with people. It has waves, which is very important if you’ve got a family like mine that likes to body surf, bodyboard and surf. And there’s masses of sand as well, so it’s great for a walk in the morning, it’s great on dusk, and it’s great in the middle of the day to do activities.

As a kid, I used to be into surf lifesaving, and East End was my club in Taranaki, a black sand beach, again with very rugged surf. And the best memories were always around January, February, when the water got a bit warmer. We would just be boogie-boarding for hours on end, and my dad would push me onto the waves, and I just remember as a kid feeling so exhilarated that I could do this and catch a wave on my own. And then you’d hop out of the water and you’d go back to your picnic rug and there’d be all of the snacks. But usually the best snack was just Bluebird chips with some good dip.

Toni Street co-hosts Coast’s Breakfast with Toni, Jase & Sam.

Julian Dennison says Tāwharanui is one of NZ's best beaches.

Julian Dennison

I loveTāwharanui, and I always go there with my friends and family. We take a little barbecue down and enjoy the sun. Right now, a lot of my “For you” page on Instagram has been the best beaches in New Zealand, so I’m hoping it’s a nice hot summer, and we can enjoy the weather.

Julian Dennison is an actor and DJ.

Palm Beach on Waiheke island is chef Josh Emett's pick for NZ's best beach. Photos / Pamela Wade, supplied

Josh Emett

My favourite beach is Palm Beach on Waiheke Island, for a number of reasons. It has amazing walking tracks around it, sort of up and down to it. It is just a glorious beach. It’s fantastic for a morning swim. The Palm Beach Cafe has the best toasted sandwiches, and they also do fantastic coffee, and there’s a bottle shop next door as well. So, all the boxes are ticked.

My favourite beach trip memory is from Marokopa Beach in Waikato, with my father. We went fishing, you know, it’s a classic black sand beach. We went down there, fished for the weekend, pitched a tent, cooked over a little camp stove. I was young at the time. We just had some great father-son time.

Josh Emett is the executive chef and co-owner of Gilt, Onslow and The Oyster Inn. He’ll return as executive chef at the Adrenaline Lounge for the ITM Sail GP New Zealand in Auckland from February 14-15.

Waipu Cove, last year's Best Beach winner, is Coast host Sam Wallace's favourite beach in New Zealand.

Sam Wallace

As I’ve got older and I’ve got kids, my favourite beach is Waipu Cove with the campground there, because it’s the perfect campground. It’s brilliant, the facilities are really good, there’s a bouncing castle for the kids, but they’ve also got restaurants close. And as you get older, I think having restaurants close to camping is the only way to camp.

Sam Wallace co-hosts Coast’s Breakfast with Toni, Jase & Sam.

Ōpito Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula is Tinā star Antonia Eaton's favourite NZ beach.

Antonia Eaton

My favourite New Zealand beach is the hidden gem of Ōpito Bay. Tucked away on the Coromandel Peninsula, it’s 20 minutes round the coast from Whitianga. The white sand shoreline stretches on for 3km, ending at a historic pā that looks out at the Mercury islands, and just over the hill sits Crayfish Bay with its pink terraces. I’m particularly fond of Ōpito because, alongside the crystal clear waters, lack of crowds, and summer trips, it’s where my husband proposed to me.

I could spend hours in the water in summer and, even in winter, there’s something so refreshing about a chilly dip as it pours with rain. Elsewhere in NZ, some of my favourite childhood memories are spent up in Northland with boogie boards and sandcastles. I’ve filmed TV shows out at Te Henga Bethells, and gotten extremely burnt over at Tāwharanui … it’s not a Kiwi summer without salty hair, sticky sunblock and sandy feet.

Antonia Eaton stars in Tinā, available to watch on Apple TV store, Prime Video Store, Neon Rentals and AroVision.

Megan Papas grew up in Nelson, so votes Kaiteriteri as NZ's best beach.

Megan Papas

I am an Abel Tasman, Golden Bay girl, I think, because I grew up in the Nelson area. Kaiteriteri Beach can’t be beaten. It’s got golden sand, beautiful sunshine all the time. Nelson has the best sunshine hours in the country.

We had one of those little granny 70s old-school baches. So every summer we’d go there and they used to - I don’t know if they still do it - have a Miss Kaiteriteri competition, Mr And Mrs/Miss Kaiteriteri. And they had a junior section. So one year, I plucked up the courage in my little blue one-piece togs, to strut my stuff on the catwalk. Wasn’t the cutest, but what I made up for in lack of beauty was my sassy little ... I think I got like highly commended for my attitude. I never won, but I gave it a go one year and I remember that. That’s one of my favourite memories.

Megan Papas is co-host on The Hits Breakfast.

Now it’s your turn...

Nominate your favourite beaches in our five categories: Best Family Beach, Best Surf Beach, Best City Beach, Best Hidden Gem Beach, and Best Camping Beach. Find out more about the categories with our launch story here.

Nominations are open until 11.59pm tonight. From there, the 10 most popular nominees in each category will be collated and announced on Sunday, January 18. You can then vote for the ultimate winners, who will be crowned on February 1.

Any beach, anywhere in the country, could make the final list, from the tip of Te Tai Tokerau Northland to the bottom of Rakiura Stewart Island. It’s all up to you, so get nominating.

Go to nzherald.co.nz/bestbeach to submit your nominations or fill out the entry form below.