Because there’s so much to do at Muriwai I have split it up into two posts. This one will cover the main beach and gannet colony and the other will cover the Muriwai Beach – north end – great for walking the dog, safe play in the creek, 4w4, and playing on the sand dunes.
About | Muriwai Gannet Colony and Main Beach
Muriwai is a great beach for surfing. It’s rugged and a big playground for kids. At the main beach entrance you’ll find the surfers out, a big cave to explore, rock pools, a blowhole when the tide is in, and you can also walk up to see the gannets from the clifftop platforms from August to March.
The gannets come to lay their eggs so from August you’ll see them arriving and making their nests, to their chicks hatching and slowly losing their baby feathers before they fly off to Australia in March. There are around 1,200 of them, it is a sight to see.
They have a new playground and cafe right by the carpark.
Nearby
Location
- Muriwai Main Beach – parking on either Jack Butt Lane or Motutara Road (this one is closer to the end of the beach for rock and cave exploring, then going up and seeing the gannets).
- Muriwai Gannet Colony – Waitea Road (overlooks Maori Bay) or Motutara Road.
Photos
We have been to the north of Muriwai so many times but we hardly come to the northern side of the beach. We explored the big cave, sand dunes and rocks.
Come at high tide and this turns into a blowhole!
After exploring, we head up to see the gannets. We like to come see the gannets a few times while they’re here and have seen them when they arrive and make up their nests to when they lay their eggs and from when they hatch til when they’ve grown and are ready to take flight. This time the young birds had grown big and were ready to take on the long journey to Australia.
