Ninety Mile Beach

Ninety Mile Beach, or ‘Taharangi Marie’ which means ‘peaceful horizon set on biscuit-colored sand dunes’ in Maori language, is located on the west coast of the Northern Island. It has Scott Point to the north and Reef Point to the south. Between these points visitors find a stunning sandy beach along the Tasman Sea. Although the beach is called 90 Mile Beach, it is actually only 55 miles long; nobody really knows where the name is derived from. At low tide the beach can be used as a road (with 4WD vehicles only), it is essential to be very cautious though as tides move in very quickly in this part of the North. On the eastern side of the dunes there are some lakes of which the most important is Waiparera near Waiharara. About 65 km from the southern end is the Bluff, a patch of submarine lava flows with bands of quartz where the mauve-flowered ice plants can be found in abundance. From Ninety Mile beach visitors to the region can access the hinterland and visit Cape Reinga and Kaitaia.