New name, same sandy beauty Maitai Bay

Aotearoa has spoken — okay, rolled over on the beach-towel and clicked. This week, we’re profiling much-loved Kiwi seaside spots in our quest to find New Zealand’s best beach. We asked readers for nominations and we’ve narrowed that down to 10 finalists and three wildcards. To vote for your favourite and help us crown a winner, go to nzherald.co.nz/bestbeach We will tell you the The Best Beach 2021 winner on February 1.

We start in the Really Far North at remote, unspoiled Maitai Bay on the tip of Karikari Peninsula, 21⁄2 hours’ drive north of Whanga¯ rei. We start by clearing up the spelling — it used to be “Matai Bay” but it’s been awarded an extra ‘i’ in recognition of local legend and dialect.

Te Tai Tokerau Northland’s east coast — the Pacific side — unfolds in dreamy harbours, po¯ hutukawafringed bays, secluded coves, rocky headlands, sometimes white, sometimes golden sand bays. Many have thoughtfully been located just a few clicks away from main roads.

To get to Maitai Bay, we recommend quitting SH1 at Kawakawa and taking the more scenic SH10 past the Bay of Islands, Whangaroa Harbour and Doubtless Bay. Leave the highway for the peninsula — once an island, now a low-lying sandy strip connected to the mainland with beaut beaches on both sides. Shallow Lake Ohia was once home to Croatian gumdiggers; now rare seabirds nest here.

You’ll already feel a million miles from anywhere, apart from olive and avocado groves, dairy farms, baches and the occasional dairy. There’s one more surprise on the last hill before leaving the tarseal: the manicured golf course, villas, spa, pool, restaurant and helipads of 1200ha Carrington Resort and its nearby Karikari Estate, New Zealand’s northernmost winery, cellar door and wedding venue.

At the bay, a 100-site DoC campground nestles among native bush, waves crashing metres away, perfect for doing nothing or doing a lot. Maitai and its cousin across the hill, Waikato Bay, are curved, sandy, protected beaches, safe for swimming, kayaking and paddling, shady for picnics, and the rock pools off the headlands offer excellent snorkelling. There’s happy wandering on the Headland Track (3.5km, 90min return) with stunning views over the Pacific.

This has long been a prime fishing and shellfish-gathering spot, but be aware that Nga¯ ti Kahu iwi and its hapu¯ have declared a notake zone in the bays and into the ocean to allow over-fished marine life to recover.

Clean, crystal-clear waters; white, soft sand; scorching hot sun . . . and not a lot else — the quintessential Kiwi summer holiday spot.