Laingholm Beach

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Laingholm Beach quiet sandy beach overlooks Laingholm Bay. It is close to the mouth of the Manukau Harbour and the site of New Zealand's greatest maritime disaster in 1863. The Royal Navy's HMS Orpheus hit a moving sand bar and fell to it's side. The Manukau Harbor's water pounded on the ship, destroying it and killing 189 off its officers.

The area is named after George and John Laing, who farmed the area in 1854. The bay is now a proposed development site for a ferry terminal that would connect to Auckland. Street parking is available and the beach is public transit accessible. Warners Park is adjacent to the beach is you feel like taking a break from swimming to hiking in a lush forrest.

Auckland Council has deemed this water body "high risk" due to ongoing water quality issues. It is recommended you do not swim or participate in other recreational water activities at this location.

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Water Quality

Met water quality standards less than 60% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on February 7th, 2023. The Swim Guide - New Zealand updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on February 7th, 2023 at 9:58 AM.

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Beaches in Auckland are monitored by Safeswim, a program which emerged out of a partnership between Auckland Council, Surf Life Saving Northern Region, and Auckland Regional Public Health Service. Safeswim forecasts water quality and real-time public health alerts and safety risks at 84 beaches and 8 freshwater locations around Auckland.

Safeswim uses predictive modelling to provide the public with real-time water quality and safety information. Predictive modelling allows Safeswim to forecast recreational water quality so that bathers and other recreational water users have better access to the current and future status of their beaches. This allows recreational water users to make better, more informed decisions about when and where to get in the water. Water quality predictions are made using statistical modelling. Models include historical and current water quality test results, as well as other environmental factors such as wind, rain, tides, and sewage events like CSOs. Safeswim’s models are updated every 10 minutes, and display results using 3 risk categories:

People are exposed to very low risk of infection from contact with the water. The beach’s water quality doesn’t present an immediate health risk to those in direct contact with it.

People are exposed to a low to moderate risk of infection from contact with the water. This is the minimum acceptable state. The beach’s water quality still meets an acceptable standard for swimming.

People are exposed to a moderate to high risk of infection from contact with the water. The beach’s water quality is considered unsuitable for swimming.

Swim Guide interprets these categories in our pass/fail system as:

Very low risk and low to moderate risk categories receive a GREEN/PASS in Swim Guide.

Moderate to high risk categories receive a RED/FAIL in Swim Guide.

The predictive models use New Zealand’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of the Environment’s Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines for Recreational Water. The Guidelines are:

Marine water : Single sample value > 140 Enterococcus / 100 ml
Freshwater : Single sample value > 260 E.coli / 100 ml

Water Quality Graph