This Tawharanui Beach Walk at Low Tide is a 7.3k easy walk that will take you around 2 hours & 30 mins to complete.

You’ll walk over green farmland down to the sandy beach with awesome views along the way. You are very close to Kawau Island. And great views of Whangaparaoa Bay.

Quick Facts about this walk

  • Location: Warkworth, just north of Auckland, North Island, New Zealand
  • Distance: 7.30 kms
  • Time needed: 2 hours 30 minutes
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Wheelchair Access: No
  • Route: Round Trip
  • Elevation: 91m
  • Wet Feet: No
  • Toilets: Yes
  • Dogs: No
  • Mobile Coverage: Yes
  • Last Updated: November, 2019

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Summary points about this walk

Walk Highlights

Farmland, beach and views. You are very close to Kawau Island. And great views of Whangaparaoa Bay.

Track Quality

Very good track, from coastal beach walk to grassy farm track.

Hazards

Walking along the beach at high tide

Transport

Unknown

Water

At the entrance to the park

Driving Instructions

A bit of a drive, but worth it. Head north on State Highway 1. Drive over the harbour bridge and onto Warkworth township. 67k. Drive past the turn off to Warkworth shopping centre, and onto the only traffic lights on the highway. TURN right, look for the sign to Leigh township. On the Matakana Road. 8.9k along this road is the township of Matakana. Stop here on a Saturday morning for the fresh produce markets, all grown by the locals. Highly recommended. Across the road is also a very enjoyable but naughty bakery. 1.7k pasted Matakana on the right, turn off to Tawharanui Regional Park. This road is windy and narrow and 13k long, 5k at the end is gravel. The road around the park HQ is sealed. The next thing that will catch your eye and make you stop is the 2.4k long predator fence. It is to keep out the possums, feral cats, rats and dogs. The goal is to achieve a pest free park. So the native birds such as Tui, Fantail, Dotterel and Skinks can recover. There is a plan to reintroduce the Tuatara lizard and the endangered Kiwi, but don’t fear, they will let you out. Drive around to the lagoon, this would only be about 200m till you see the car park and a information board. Pull in there. This is the first time I have seen so much lush green grass in a park. Good place for a picnic.

Shops & Restaurants Nearby

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Area & Trail History

Unknown

Map Location

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Points of interest along the walk​

Starting point
creek crossing low tide
Tawharanui Ridge Walk car park

Point 1: Tawharanui Beach Walk at low tide

ONLY AT LOW TIDE.

To Maori Bay via Beach 3.8k – 1h 20 min

At the car park, cross over the walk bridge. Carry on to the base of the hill.  Don’t jump the fence. Walk around to the right and follow the lagoon to the outlet.

With the tide out you will not get your feet wet.  The first 20 mins is good going, not a lot of rocks and a couple of beautiful beaches.

Tawharanui Beach Walk at Low Tide
Tawharanui Beach Walk at Low Tide
Tawharanui Beach Walk at Low Tide

Point 2: Tawharanui Beach Walk at low tide

You can spend a lot of time exploring the rock pools; looking for shells and watching the native birds flying around trying to catch their lunch.  The next sandy beach is Bluebell Point.  From here Maori Bay is only 20 mins away.  Keep away from the long grass, this is the nesting spot set aside for the Dotterel sea birds. When you arrive at Maori Bay there is a small grassy area, the track is to your left and climbs to a great spot to have lunch and enjoy the views.  Another 2 mins and you will be at the turn off to the South Coast Walk.

Tawharanui Beach Walk at Low Tide
Heading up to the ridge top
Heading up to the ridge top

Point 3: Tawharanui Beach Walk at low tide

3.5k – 1h 10 min

At the South Coast Walk turn off, turn left on to a very pleasurable county walk.  There are a couple of small patches of native scrub to walk through. We were lucky on this walk; the farmer had just mowed the track for us to walk on.

Bluebell Point
Tawharanui Regional Park
Hereford cattle

Point 4: Tawharanui Beach Walk at low tide

Once out of the gully you walk along the cliff top, there are a small number of little hills to walk up and down, but nothing to get a sweat over. The views are first-class.  There is a hand full of farm grates to open and close, plus farm stock to talk to if you are that way inclined.  Don’t worry about the stock they are trained to respect tourist, but they might try to catch you out with the odd patch of green sticky stuff, so watch where you put your feet.  At the point of the ridge, you will be able to look down on to the car park.  Follow the marker posts down to the fence and back to the car.




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