Piha North Beach

The waves at North Piha Beach are a bit more friendly and hospitable to swimmers and new surfers than those on the South Beach. Lions Rock, a 16 million year old volcanic neck, divides the North and South beaches. The rock is named after it's shape, which resembles a male lion laying down. Public toilets and change rooms are located close to Lions Rock and a picnic area is located close to the carpark. Dogs have been banned from the beach as the area is home to blue penguins, pippits and oyster catchers.

Piha is the birth place of New Zealand surfing and one of the worlds most famous surfing beaches. The black, iron stained sands are patrolled by 2 Surf and Life Saving Clubs, the Piha Surf Life Saving Club patrols this beach and United North Piha Lifeguard Service patrols the north beach. Boarding in Piha began in the 1930's and in 1958 Malibu board riding arrived. Piha is home to New Zealand's national and international surfing champions. The powerful rips that make it ideal for boarding makes it dangerous for swimmers and have been known to snap canoes in half. The south beach is where the reality show "Piha Rescue" is filmed. Please stay in the designated swimming area marked with red and yellow flags.

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Meets water quality standards
Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on May 28th, 2020. Swim Guide NZ updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on May 28th, 2020 at 8:00 PM.

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

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