Oakura

Oakura is a changeable, genuinely fun beach break where several peaks march down the black sand and rearrange themselves with the tide. It serves up both rights and lefts that can get hollow, fast and surprisingly powerful when the swell lines up, yet on smaller crumbly days it stays mellow enough for beginners and longboarders. It comes alive on a SW or W swell with a SE or E wind grooming it offshore, and it works across all tides, though the banks often hold their shape best from mid to high. There is an outer reef that switches on as a separate option once the swell gets big. This is the start of SH45, the Surf Highway, and the home break of Paige Hareb, New Plymouth's own and the first New Zealand woman to qualify for the World Surf League Championship Tour.

The break sits right in front of Oakura village, an easy fifteen minutes southwest of New Plymouth and the first stop as you head down the coast. It is a lovely beachside settlement of around 1,780 people with a strong arts community, an annual Arts Trail, cafes, and the well loved Butlers Reef pub for a feed and live music. The black sand beach earned Blue Flag accreditation back in 2007, and behind the village the Kaitake Range and Mount Taranaki frame the skyline. Just up the Oakura River off Wairau Road lies Te Koru Pā, a beautifully preserved historic pā of Ngā Mahanga a Tairi with rare river-stone terracing, well worth the short walk in.

• Check the river mouths and the full length of the beach before you commit, as the better sandbar is often away from the main access point and shifts week to week; a quick walk usually finds a cleaner, less crowded peak.
• Mid to high tide tends to be the sweet spot when the banks are good, and a light SE or E breeze will hold the faces open, so time your session around the tide and the morning glass-off.
• If Oakura is too small or too crowded, you are perfectly placed to keep heading south on SH45 toward Stent Road and the more demanding points, which switch on as the swell builds; treat Oakura as the warm up and the rest of the Surf Highway as the reward.
• Off the water, wander the Oakura Arts Trail and the village galleries, grab a meal and live music at Butlers Reef, and make the short walk to Te Koru Pā for one of Taranaki's finest archaeological sites.
• On a clear day the view from the beach back to Mount Taranaki is one of the great surf-and-volcano landscapes in the country, so bring a camera even if the surf is flat.

• Rips are the main thing to read here, and because the sandbars shift the channels move with them, so take a minute to watch where the water is pulling out before you paddle and use a landmark on the dunes to check you are not drifting.
• Several peaks break down the beach and they change with the tide, so a bank that is firing at low can close out at high; walk the sand and pick the peak rather than paddling out at the first one you reach.
• On its day this beach throws genuinely hollow, powerful waves despite its friendly reputation, so do not be lulled by a small forecast, and size up your board and your commitment when it is overhead.
• The outer reef only comes into play on bigger swells and is a step up in consequence from the beach, so leave it to experienced surfers who know how to read the takeoff and the exit.
• It gets very popular in summer with swimmers as well as surfers, so give the patrol flags a wide berth, keep clear of bathers, and surf the unpatrolled ends of the beach if it is crowded between the flags.

Getting there

From New Plymouth head southwest on Devon Street West, which becomes South Road and SH45 (the Surf Highway). Oakura is about 15 kilometres and fifteen minutes on, and at the village you turn right down Dixon Street or Wairau Road to reach the beach. It is the first beach as you start down the coast toward Stent Road and the southern points.

Parking

There is parking by the beach reserve at the bottom of the access roads near the surf club and the holiday park, with more on-street parking through the village. It fills up on hot summer days and over the New Year carnival, so arrive early in peak season.

Toilets & showers

Public toilets are at the beach reserve by the surf club, and the Oakura Beach Holiday Park on the beachfront has showers, toilets and amenities for guests. A cold rinse to wash off the salt and black sand is the norm here.

Shops, cafes & fuel

The village has a Four Square (with NZ Post) on South Road for groceries and a BP service station, Heydon Priest, in the heart of the village with a mechanical workshop, open early until evening seven days. For food there are village cafes, the Elephant Walk takeaway for fish and chips, and Butlers Reef pub for meals, a garden bar and regular live music. New Plymouth, fifteen minutes north, has full supermarkets and services.

Accommodation

The Oakura Beach Holiday Park sits right on the beachfront toward the southern end of the beach with beachfront units plus powered and non-powered sites, a communal kitchen, laundry and a playground. There are also baches, motels and holiday rentals around the village, and the full range of New Plymouth accommodation is a short drive away.

Camping

Camp at the Oakura Beach Holiday Park, which has powered and non-powered tent and campervan sites by the sand. Freedom camping is not an option here: the New Plymouth District freedom camping bylaw bans tent camping on public land across the district, and self-contained camping is restricted to designated areas elsewhere, so use the holiday park or stay in New Plymouth.