Long Beach and Waitata Bay

Long Beach (Oneroa Bay) is a very lovely, long, safe, sandy, all-tide swimming beach facing north-east with great views across the islands of the Bay to the Cape Brett peninsular and north to the open sea.

Around some rocks at the north western end is the smaller but sometimes more sheltered Waitata Bay (Donkey Bay). A high-tide track above the beach is an alternative access.

Rock-hoppers (or keen fishers) can continue around the coast north of Waitata Bay to more fishing spots and eventually at low tide even to Rocky Bay at Tapeka.

Location, Grade and Duration

Long Beach can be reached on foot or by vehicle. See Long Beach Walkway for further details.

Long Beach is about a kilometre long and Long Beach Road extends some 700 metres along it so for this portion both the beach and the road may be walked and both are flat.

The high tide track to Waitata Bay is an easy but narrow dirt track with some steps. Those nervous of heights may not like a narrow section several metres above the beach. The rocky outcrop between Long Beach and Waitata Bay requires a little agility.

Restrictions

Dogs are not allowed on the main beach alongside the road in the summer months during the day. However they are allowed on the beach at both ends beyond the road at all times if under control and kept off the private properties adjoining the beach. The Waitata Bay high-tide track is administered by the QE2 Trust and dogs are forbidden both there and on the DoC headland reserve at the northern tip of Wiatata Bay.

There are toilets at the northwest end of Long Beach. There are no shops at the beaches.

For many years secluded Waitata Bay has occasionally been used as a naturist bathing beach so be prepared for this if you go there.

Interests

Swimming, fishing, boating, sunbathing, beach games and strolling are all popular.

There is a shag (cormorant) colony nearby and dolphins sometimes visit.

There may be a large surf particularly at the southern end in northerly weather.

History

The Maori name for Long Beach is Oneroa: "one" (pronounced aw-knee, meaning 'sand') and "roa" (raw-ah, meaning 'long').

The first few holiday baches were built at Long Beach in the 1920s but after World War II its popularity soared.

Adobe Cottage, at the road entrance to Long Beach, was built in the 1940s by Charlotte Larkin. Aged in her sixties, she built it from bricks made with clay and sand found on site. The cottage with its unusual windows still attracts visitors today but her dream was to inspire young men returning from the war, so that they would be able to build their own homes. Russell Museum has an interesting booklet for sale, 'Puawananga' (clematis), with further information.

The big headland between the Tapeka rocks and the little bay of Waitata and Oneroa/Long Beach was named 'Temple Bar' by Russell children many years ago, although no-one remembers why. During WW2 this headland was fortified by the Navy and Army and known by its official name of 'C Section'. Few people today remember the great guns of C Section, or the powerful searchlight which was installed halfway down the cliff. The headland is a conservation reserve and remnants of the fortifications can still be found on it.

Waitata Bay, tucked between Temple Bar and Long Beach, was once owned by a family who kept donkeys so it was often called 'Donkey Bay'.