Matai Bay New Zealand
Another New Zealand Photographer’s Paradise

At the northernmost part of New Zealand’s North Island, about a four-hour drive from Auckland, sits a sheltered bay along Merita Beach that offers fishing, picnicking, and other holiday bay activities.

The walk from Matai Bay New Zealand to rocky Whangatupere Bay on the Karikari Peninsula is a challenging three-hour opportunity to experience steep slippery hills and forested cliffs in pursuit of azure waters and the best views past the summit in what’s all part of the Doubtless Bay region.

The area offers a great choice of restaurants – including reportedly the best fish and chip eatery in New Zealand – as well as excellent golf courses, fishing, diving, surfing, and sunbathing.

New Zealand accommodations are plentiful and range from hotels and motels to holiday parks and self contained apartments. A cozy little holiday beachfront cottage is Waikura Retreat Bach 1, a rather pricey creature comfortless right at the water’s edge that puts you right in the heart of what the holiday bay has to offer.

Matai Bay consists of two crescent-shaped coves overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A DOC campground located there is popular with fisherman and other vacationers. The campground is basic with cold showers and no cooking facilities, but the bay view is gorgeous and offers scenic photography, tracks, and hikes.

This is a place of wild beauty best captured in photos. Sunset features picturesque golden water and sky. There are amazing caramel sands, white beaches and strikingly beautiful rocky outcroppings. A kayak paddle explores beautiful bush in the sheltered bay.

Spectacular water clarity, sand and reef territory mean a good variety of diving and marine life, with visibility up to 30 meters. Good boat diving along rocky seabed and reefs is best experienced at Matai Bay Pinnacle, which descends 40 meters to where blue maomao, demoiselles, and kingfish gather. Snorkeling is another great water exploration option.

The sub-tropical north bay is known for world class diving, and this site is rated as one of New Zealand’s best. Guided shore dives are available to escort divers of all levels through this exceptional area. Bottlenose dolphins, orcas, and other marine life are often seen in nearby diving reserve and reef locations. The two crescent shaped coves of Matai Bay are worth the stop to enjoy New Zealand’s finest bay point features on your New Zealand vacation.