Ocean Beach

Ocean Beach is also known as Waipuka to M?ori's. It has strong rips and waves, making it perfect for surfing and is patrolled during the summer months. The long golden sand extends along the ocean, making it perfect for strolling. The area is known as the Haupouri Flats because the land is extremely flat along the beach. The Waipuka River empties at the mouth of this beach that is filled with runoff from the adjacent farmlands. The area behind the beach is filled with grassy hills adding to the beautiful scenery. This area is undeveloped compared to some of the neighbouring beaches, making it quieter and less frequented by tourists.

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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 February 21st, 2021. Swim Guide NZ updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on February 21st, 2021 at 6:34 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Hawkes Bay Regional Council monitors water quality at popular swimming beaches throughout the Hawkes Bay region.

Water quality data on Swim Guide is sourced from the LAWA Can I Swim Here? website. www.lawa.org.nz/swim

At 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