Great Barrier Island is a wonderful playground for lovers of sea, sand and surf.
Swimming, surfing, sea kayaking, and body boarding are all popular activites on the Barrier and the east coast beaches are great for families or just hanging
with your mates.
Beach essentials including swimwear, diving gear, boards and kayaks can allbe hired on the Barrier.
Medlands Beach is considered one of the best surfing beaches on the Barrier.It’s a ten minute drive from Claris airport and a 15 minute drive from the ferry terminal at Tryphena. According to the local surfers, it has good sand bar breaks along its entire length, particularly on an incoming tide.
Whangapoua Beach is only a short walk from Okiwi Airfield and is straight across the island from the Port Fitzroy ferry terminal. Good surf
waves break over sandbanks across the mouth of the Whangapoua Estuary producing “beaut barrels in a north-easterly swell”.
Awana Beach is noted for its good all year round surfing conditions and the variety of waves resulting from rapidly shifting sandbanks. Any respectable easterly swell will push up fast-moving, heavy beach breaks on an incoming tide.
Kaitoke Beach is the largest east coast beach and boasts a number of good beach breaks all the way down to the island at the south end.
Useful links:
Mulberry Grove Store – Sea Kayaking Hire | (09) 429 0909
Hooked On Barrier- Kayak, Dive Gear & Swimwear Hire | (09) 429 0417
