Tata Beach, golden Bay, New Zealand

Tata Beach, Golden Bay

by

The beaches of Golden Bay are famed throughout New Zealand for their soft sands and clear calm water. We explored a few of the beaches in the area after visiting Abel Tasman National Park and were most impressed with Tata Beach.

Tata Beach

Golden Bay is the gateway to a popular part of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. You can see some of New Zealand’s best beaches there (Totaranui Beach, Goat Bay, Anapai Bay etc) but it does require a long drive along a rough gravel road. Tata Beach, only a 20 minute drive (along a proper road) from Takaka, is far more accessible. The beach is pretty close in quality to those perfect Abel Tasman beaches — the sand is soft and golden and water invites both swimmers and water sports enthusiasts. It does get a lot busier but that’s the price you pay for being closer to civilization!

Tata Beach, Golden Bay, New ZealandKayaks at Tata Beach, Golden Bay, New Zealand

Tata Beach from Above

On the way back from Totaranui / Wainui Falls we stopped on the hill above Tata Beach to admire the views. It was a great place to stop but the little roadside car park was incredibly rough, causing me to scrape the bottom of my car. It’s a horrible sound but luckily there wasn’t too much damage.

Tata Beach from above, Golden Bay, New Zealand

Getting to Tata Beach

The road to Golden Bay is extremely curvy, so be prepared for that! Once you’re over the hill you’ll soon reach Takaka, and from there it’s another 20 minutes to Tata Beach. All up it’ll take you around two hours to drive there from Nelson. There’s a camping ground at Tata Beach and a few other accommodation options. Definitely book ahead over the Christmas / New Year period as it’s a very popular spot for locals.

Other things to do in Golden Bay

Make sure to check out Te Waikoropupū Springs, which is a short drive from Takaka. Also try and make it to Totaranui and the surrounding beaches — you’ll struggle to find better beaches anywhere in New Zealand. Another good thing to do in Golden Bay is the Farewell Spit tour — we haven’t done it yet but I’ve heard great things about it.

Te Waikoropupū Springs, Golden Bay, New Zealand
Te Waikoropupū Springs
Hiking to Goat Bay, Abel Tasman National Park
Goat Bay

Are you planning a trip to Golden Bay? Let me know in the comments below!

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

Jon Algie

I'm a South Island local -- born in Timaru and raised in Dunedin. I left the island in 2006 and returned 10 years later. Having seen a good chunk of the world I realised how special this place is -- the most beautiful island in the world! Seven years (and almost 400 posts) later I'm still helping locals and tourists alike plan their trips around the South Island.