Ahipara Campground

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Photo by: Dylan Neild

Ahipara Campground is commonly referred to as the "Gateway to the 90 mile beach". Popular activities include swimming, surfcasting, surfing, boating, fishing, kite flying, hang gliding, shell fishing and of course walking along the Tasman Sea.

The name "Ninety Mile Beach" is a bit misleading as it is closer to 55 miles (88 km). The most common theory of the root of the name stems from the days when missionaries traveled by horse. Generally, horses could travel 30 miles / day without needing rest. It took 3 days to travel the length of the beach leading the missionaries to think they had traveled 90 miles because they did not take the slower pace of the horses into account.

New Zealand has officially classed this beach as a public highway and it was used as a runway for airmail in 1932. The worlds biggest snapper surf-fishing contest takes place annually at the end of the swimming season.

The name Ahipara comes from the Māori language and means "Sacred Fire" after an ancient fire that continuously burned where the school currently stands. "

WATER QUALITY

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on . Pulse Energy updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on at

For water quality icon legend, click:

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MONITORING FREQUENCY

SOURCE INFORMATION

Over 40 coastal and about 12 freshwater sites are tested weekly for 12 weeks from November to February. From February to March sometimes Northland only tests twenty three coastal and three freshwater sites are tested weekly.

Results are posted on every Friday.

Coastal sites are tested for enterococci levels. Beaches with elevated levels of bacteria are tested more regularly. If the beach is located near a waste treatment plant, in which case E.coli levels would also be tested.

RSWQP issues an amber alert if a single sample level of enterococci are greater than 140 units / 100 ml of water. Daily testing would occur to determine if the problem is ongoing. When two consecutive results show Enterococci levels higher than 280 units / 100ml of water warnings are posted. Signs will also be posted at beaches and until water levels return to a safe level.

Pulse Energy updates Swim Guide for the latest water quality information daily, Monday - Friday during the swimming season.

A beach has a GREEN current status in Swim Guide when it has met the water quality standard of <140 enterococci/100 mL and has a rank of GREEN.

A beach has a RED current status in Swim Guide when samples exceed the water quality criteria of >140 enterococci/100 mL and there is an AMBER or RED alert.

A beach is marked Grey in Swim Guide when there is no current or reliable monitoring information available.

Swimming is not recommended within 48 hours after a heavy rain fall or around storm water outfalls and at stream mouths.

For more information about the Northland Swimming Water Quality Monitoring Programme, visit the Northland Regional Council’s website: www.nrc.govt.nz/swimming

You can report any pollution concerns in Northland by calling the 24/7 Environmental Hotline toll-free on 0800 504 639.

Data in Swim Guide is sourced from LAWA’s “Can I Swim Here” program.
Visit LAWA’s factsheet on recreational monitoring in NZ here. https://www.lawa.org.nz/learn/factsheets/what-do-the-swim-icons-mean/
LAWA assigns each site a grade, which is based on the last three years of monitoring data from the site.

WATER QUALITY GRAPH