Ahipara Campground

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 M?ori language and means "Sacred Fire" after an ancient fire that continuously burned where the school currently stands. "

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Water Quality

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Current Status
This status is based on the latest sample. Swim Guide NZ updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available.

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Source Information

Water quality data on Swim Guide is sourced from the LAWA Can I Swim Here? website. www.lawa.org.nz/swimAt this site, water is regularly tested for levels of Enterococci during the summer months. This faecal indicator bacteria is used to indicate the level of harmful pathogens in the water.See information on recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in this LAWA factsheet: https://www.lawa.org.nz/learn/factsheets/coastal-and-freshwater-recreation-monitoring/Beach sites are shown as a GREEN swim icon if the latest Enterococci test result was in the range of 0 - 280 Enterococci / 100 mL.Beach sites are shown as a RED swim icon if the latest test result exceeded 280 Enterococci / 100 mL or frequently exceeds the standard or there is a temporary water quality issue outside the routine testing programme (e.g. sewage overflow).See information on the standards for recreational water quality monitoring in New Zealand in the 'What do the swim icons mean?' LAWA factsheet.LAWA recommends for all sites, to avoid swimming for 2 - 3 days after significant rain, even for sites that normally have good water quality.A good rule of thumb is to check that you can see your toes in knee deep water.See www.lawa.org.nz/swim for up to date information on current warnings and alerts, weather conditions, tides, real-time water temperatures, what facilities are available, the monitoring history at this site and helpful factsheets.

Water Quality Graph