Taranaki
So you’re a serious surfer looking for a whole bunch of hot spots to check out with truckloads of varied breaks and no downtime. Well, the tight curves of the Taranaki coastline serve up some of the best surf beaches in the country.
Bay of Plenty
Surf travellers looking for the ideal beach to ride fabulous waves often head for the Bay of Plenty. This broad bountiful bay was well named by its discoverer Captain Cook.
Coromandel Peninsula
You’ll be seriously stoked with the neat waves and the party atmosphere on Coromandel’s east coast beaches. This is ‘must-see’ country for any ‘surfari’ tour of the North Island, especially its acclaimed ‘Capital’ Whangamata.
Auckland West Coast
The City of Sails is spoiled for choice surf locations, with two coasts and several northern beaches just an hours drive from downtown. Big city surfers, from the greenest grommets to the craziest enchiladas, head west, to ride every wild, whipped-up wave from Whatipu to Muriwai.
Northland West Coast
Head north in search of New Zealand’s sensational surf and discover the wild, desolate black sand beaches of the ‘Winterless North’. Get amongst the big west coast swells powering in from the Tasman Sea - endless lines of rollers stacked to the horizon.
Gisborne
New Zealand’s most easterly city is the prosperous centre of the sun-drenched Eastland Region. Gisborne was known to the Maori as Tairawhiti - ‘the coast where the sun shines across the water’ and in fact the city is the first place in the world to greet the sun each day.
Napier
Napier and its pleasant sister city, Hastings make up one of New Zealand’s most attractive regional centres. They serve an area of vividly green rolling hills, alive with sheep and river flats enriched with orchards, market gardens, vineyards and olive groves
New Plymouth
This friendly west coast city is the gateway to a prime dairying region that has a most spectacular backdrop, Mt Taranaki (also known as Mt Egmont). New Plymouth is not only rich in farming and alpine scenery but also in arts and crafts, parks and gardens.
Blenheim
Blenheim has just about everything a visitor could wish for - access to a wine trail of 70 vineyards, crystal clear fishing streams, high mountain peaks and native beech forests as well as secluded bush-fringed bays in the stunning Marlborough Sounds.
Taupo
New Zealand’s largest lake is an immense volcanic crater fed by many sparkling rivers brimming with trout. It is one of the best rainbow and brown trout fisheries in the world. Lake Taupo is dominated by the active volcanoes of Tongariro National Park.
Nelson
Nelson occupies an extraordinary corner of the South Island, bounded by golden sand beaches and the northernmost slopes of the Southern Alps. The region is richly endowed with scenery, tranquil waters, rich pastures, orchards, vineyards and clay quarries.
Christchurch
Our largest South Island centre has won international aclaim as the ‘Garden City’ and the ‘Most English City in New Zealand’. Christchurch is a very charming and graceful city that values its heritage, culture, arts and environment.