Pauanui

Pauanui's surf is more reliable than its holiday town reputation suggests. The long sandy beach handles a wider range of swell angles than the harder Coromandel breaks like Hot Water and Whiritoa, and on a clean NE groundswell with W or SW winds the bay produces punchy peaks running the length of the beach. The north end river mouth occasionally turns on a top-shelf left when the bar shapes up on a solid swell, which asks for a careful read of the channel. The south end at the base of the spit has a right-hand point that fires at lower tides over rocks on a more easterly angle, and it shelters when the open beach is straight onshore.

Pauanui is the friendlier half of the Tairua harbour twin, a planned holiday settlement on a 4km spit between the Tairua Harbour and the open Pacific, on the rohe of Ngāti Maru, part of the Marutūāhu confederation of Hauraki iwi. The lineup is welcoming and the local crew is small, the sort of beach that suits a first lesson as much as a dawn patrol.

• The south end at the base of the spit nearest the harbour is the best of the beach for beginners and improvers, a touch smaller than the rest with cleaner, more consistent banks.
• On the bigger northeast days the prize is the left by the harbour entrance, but it only shows when the sand has built a defined bank, so study it from dry land and pick your line before you commit.
• Pauanui is the reliable small-day call when Hot Water Beach or Whiritoa are too fickle, while on the bigger days the dedicated crew cross to Tairua. Late autumn and winter are the local's secret: crowds gone, cafes still open, groundswells with real period, and a welcoming lineup.
• For the best view in the area, walk up Mt Paku from Tairua across the harbour, about 20 minutes up the path, looking back over Pauanui Beach, the harbour and out to Slipper Island and the Aldermen Islands, an island nature reserve and wildlife sanctuary whose silhouette on a sunrise session is reason enough to make the trip.
• For a flat day Pauanui has a surf school on the beach (Outback Surf) for a first lesson and a skatepark in town, and Tairua Bar at the harbour entrance, visible from the north end, occasionally turns on excellent surf, though it is kayak or boat access only.

• Pauanui is patrolled between the flags only in summer, so outside those hours and the rest of the year you are on your own, surf within your ability and ideally with company.
• The river mouth at the north end has strong currents on the outgoing tide, so read the channel from the beach first and stay clear of the immediate harbour entrance entirely.
• The rock under the southern point dries out shallow as the tide drops, so a mistimed wave puts you straight onto it, which makes it no place to learn, keep beginners on the soft sand of the main beach.
• Rips can run hard between peaks on the bigger swells, so read the channels before paddling out and keep clear of any pull toward the river mouth or the southern rocks.

Getting there

On the east Coromandel coast, about 2 to 2.5 hours from Auckland via the Kopu-Hikuai road (SH25A) and SH25, turning off at Hikuai onto Hikuai Settlement Road, which becomes Pauanui Boulevard. Through the holiday season the Tairua to Pauanui passenger ferry crosses the harbour in a few minutes, far quicker than the 25-minute drive around.

Parking

Beach access car parks run along Pauanui Boulevard and the side streets off it, with the main lifeguard access at the eastern end of the boulevard. It fills early over the summer holidays.

Toilets & showers

Public toilets at the main beach access at the eastern end of Pauanui Boulevard. Pauanui Surf Life Saving Club patrols the main beach over summer, working closely with Tairua SLSC across the harbour.

Shops, cafes & fuel

Pauanui has cafes, a small shopping area and a convenience store, with GAS Pauanui on Sheppard Avenue the petrol station (open seven days, with a cafe and store attached). The nearest larger supermarket is at Whitianga.

Accommodation

Pauanui is mostly holiday homes, motels and Bookabach rentals, which book out fast over Christmas and Easter. Pauanui Glade Holiday Park, set back behind the town, has cabins and powered sites, with more holiday-park options across at Tairua and at Hot Water Beach.

Camping

TCDC's bylaw allows certified self-contained vehicles at a few designated Pauanui reserves, Te Karaka Reserve and Royal Billy Point off Vista Paku and South End Reserve near the southern beach, each two nights only and away by 9am.