Back Beach

New Plymouth, Taranaki

Back Beach is situated to the west of New Plymouth. It is a popular swimming beach over the summer months and used frequently by surfers year-round. The Herekawe Stream enters the beach approximately 50 m from the sampling site. Previously monitored on a three-yearly cycle, routine annual recreational bathing surveys at Back Beach began in November 2016.

Previously monitored on a three-yearly cycle, routine annual recreational bathing surveys at Back Beach began in November 2016.

Recreational bathing surveys over the last two summers (2018-2019 and 2019-2020) showed that 100% of beach samples met the marine microbiological water quality guidelines prepared by the Ministry of the Environment in conjunction with the Ministry of Health (MfE, 2003) and did not exceed the ‘Action’ level (two consecutive samples >280 enterococci/100 ml).

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is still essential. Only go to the beach if you are able to keep 6 feet or 2 meters away from others. Follow the instructions provided by your local health authorities. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter our efforts to curb the virus’s spread.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on December 13th, 2021. 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 December 13th, 2021 at 2:50 PM.

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Taranaki Regional Council monitors water quality at popular swimming beaches throughout the Taranaki 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