Whatipu Beach

Whatipu sits at the northern head of the Manukau Harbour entrance, and its landscape is the result of an unusual accretion: since the late nineteenth century sand has piled up seaward, pushing the shoreline out by well over a kilometre and leaving behind a broad plain of dunes and freshwater wetland where the sea used to break. That is why the cliffs, and the caves cut into them by waves, now stand inland with swamp in front of them. One of those, Whatipu Cave, was used as a dance hall by the timber community here in the 1900s and the floor is still flat. The wetland is important habitat for bittern and other birds, and boardwalks cross parts of it. Offshore is the Manukau bar, one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the country, where the Orpheus was wrecked in 1863. Swimming is not sensible anywhere here.

What you actually see

• The accreted sand plain - a kilometre of new land in front of the old cliffs.
• Whatipu Cave - the sea cave inland that served as a dance hall.
• The wetland - boardwalks over bittern habitat.
• The Manukau bar - the notorious water at the harbour mouth.

When to go

October to April. Allow a long drive - the last stretch is unsealed, narrow and slow. Wet weather makes the wetland tracks muddy.

Honest expectations

Do not swim: the bar and the currents here are genuinely lethal and there is no patrol. The access road is unsealed and rough. There are no shops, no water and patchy phone coverage.

Nearby

Karekare and Piha are north; the Waitakere Ranges tracks run inland.