Lake Mahinapua at Shanghai Bay

Lake Mahinapua, located to the south of Hokitika, is a beautiful tranquil lake surrounded by native bush. Lake Mahinapua is a great place for swimming, fishing, boating, walking, picnicking, bird watching and mountain biking.

Lake Mahinapua is a shallow (less than 2.5 m deep) glacial lake located near the coast, halfway between Hokitika and Ross. Catchment landuse consists mostly of native forest and scrub, with a small amount of pasture land. The lake drains via Mahinapua Creek.
The West Coast Regional Council monitors Lake Mahinapua for swimming suitability over the summer months. For more information on activities, walks, facilities and more at the Lake Mahinapua Scenic Reserve, please visit: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/mahinapua-scenic-reserve/?tab-id=50578

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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 at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on November 15th, 2022. 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 November 15th, 2022 at 3:35 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

West Coast Regional Council monitors water quality at popular swimming spots throughout the West Coast 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 E. coli 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 the LAWA factsheet.

Beach sites are shown as a GREEN swim icon if the latest E. coli test result was in the range of 0 - 550 E. coli / 100 mL.

Beach sites are shown as a RED swim icon if the latest test result exceeded 550 E. coli / 100 mL or if this site 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, real-time water temperature and flow rates, and what facilities are available, the monitoring history at this site and helpful factsheets.

Water Quality Graph