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Sailing in the Hauraki Gulf
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Overview of the Hauraki Gulf

The Hauraki Gulf is one of the most superb cruising grounds in the
world.

This Gulf is a magnificent Maritime Park with over 70 islands able to be
explored. The scenery is marvellous and there are innumerable sheltered
bays to tuck into - often as little as half an hour apart.

To fully appreciate the beauty of the gulf you need to be on a comforatable
yacht, cruising amongst these charming islands and exploring them at your
leisure. It can be a truly a great experience.

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Rangitoto Island
Icon gateway to the Gulf
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Hauraki Gulf Map

Click on an island or feature on the map to take you to its description.



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Possible Hauraki Gulf Sailing Trips

Starting from
Auckland, a week is a good duration for an east-bound trip to the far end
of Waiheke Island commencing with the inner islands of Rangitoto, Motutapu
and Motuihe. On Waiheke Island you can explore some vinyards as well as the
township of Oneroa. This duration would also allow a visit to the island
group of Ponui, Rotoroa, Pakatoa etc off the east end of Waiheke Island.

Alternatively, a week is a good duration to travel north via the inner
islands of Rangitoto, Motutapu and Rakino to the Whangaparaoa Peninsular,
Mahurangi Harbour and Kawau Bay. A special feature of this trip is to visit
the especially beautiful Kawau Island with its charming Mansion House Bay.
This north-bound excursion could include a stop at Waiwera Springs for a
hot swim (wind direction permitting).

A duration of between 12 and 14 days would allow further time to sail both
east to the far end of Waiheke Island and north to Kawau Island. Within
that 12 to 14 day period it should also be possible to sail to the spectacular
outlying Great Barrier Island (weather permitting) possibly making a round
trip of it around the edges of the gulf.

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The Inner Island Group

The following islands lie in a group closest to Auckland:

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Rangitoto Island (back
to map)

Auckland is sited amongst over 60 extinct volcanoes. At only 600 years
old, Rangitoto is the largest and most recent of these.

While the island appears heavily bush-clad from the distance, once ashore
the landscape changes to more like a moonscape with predominantly dark
black rock formations and with the trees seemingly growing from the cracks.

The island is a public reserve. A wide, well-made track leads you to the
summit where you can peer down into the deep bowl of the now-dead crater
and take in the best and most spectacular views over the entire gulf.

Islington Bay, tucked between Rangoitoto and Motutapu Islands affords an
all-weather anchorage, one of the most sheltered in the gulf.

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Motutapu Island (back
to map)

Motutapu is a large grass-covered island having been farmed for many years.
However, a major re-vegetation programme has been implemented and it will
eventually be returned to bush.

The Maoris were living on Motutapu Island when Rangitoto began to erupt out
of the water right beside them. Numerous archaeological sites have been
found of this earlier Maori habitation.

There are many bays and beaches around all sides allowing access to this
island in most wind conditions. Tracks link most of these bays enabling
easy exploration of the island.

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Home Bay, Motutapu Island
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Motuihe Island (back
to map)

This attractive grass-covered public reserve is roughly triangular in shape
and has white sandy beaches on each of its three sides making it a favoured
weekend picnic spot for Auckland yachties and always a great place to stop
at.

Rakino Island (back
to map)

Rakino is a most picturesque island with a number of safe swimming beaches
in sheltered coves. It is one of only a couple of islands in the gulf that
has a residential subdivision but most of the cottages are used mainly as
weekender accommodation.
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Waiheke's main settlement is at Oneroa where there are charming shops and
fabulous restaurants. With good anchorage in bays on either of the north
and south sides of the township, Oneroa can be accessed by yacht at any
time regardless of the wind direction.

Most of the grassy rolling hills of the island are farmed with sheep or
cattle. There are also a number of vineyards to visit that produce some of the best wine
in the world.
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Bays on east end of Waiheke Island
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You can take a pleasant walk to Stony Batter on the heights of the
north-eastern corner of the island to see the very interesting
heritage-listed world war two gun emplacement and explore its ammunition
tunnels.

Across the eastern end of the island is a delightful series of small bays
each sheltered by the off-lying islands of Pakatoa, Rotoroa, Ponui, and
Pakihi.

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North to Kawau

In addition to visiting the inner island group of Rangitoto, Motutapu and
Rakino, the following are just some of the many places to stop and see on
the trip north from Auckland to Kawau Island:

Whangaparaoa
Peninsular (back to map)

Projecting into the gulf by seven kilometres, this mainland peninsular
provides a great number of marvellously protected bays and sandy beaches on
both its north and south sides. Gulf Harbour marina is tucked into the
southern shore where you can take on water and fuel.

There are suburban residences on much of this land as well as a small
shopping centre. A large regional park occupies the whole of the seaward
end of the peninsular overlooking the Whagaparaoa Passage and Tiritiri
Island.
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Waiwera Hot Springs
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Waiwera (back to map)

Nestled in a narrow valley, the sleepy little resort beach of Waiwera is
famous for its natural hot water springs. The swimming pool complex here is
open to public admission and has a number of pools of differing
temperatures giving you the option to splash around merrily or just sit,
relax and soak up the warmth.

As Waiwera is exposed to the east, anchorage here is only possible with
winds from the west which, fortunately, is the prevailing direction.

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Mahurangi Harbour (back
to map)

This harbour has some very good beaches and a number of good anchorage
spots guaranteeing calm, and sheltered nights at most times.

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Kawau Island (back to map)

The charming and beautiful Kawau Island is the undisputed gem of the
Hauraki Gulf and the main lure for the sail north from Auckland.

The beautiful Bon Accord Harbour opens from the sheltered Kawau Bay and
almost splits the island in two. This pretty harbour has a quantity of smaller
bays off to each side including the idyllic Mansion House Bay.

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Vivian Bay, just inside the northern tip of the island, has a
long sandy beach and is a great spot for a picnic ashore.

There is any number of other interesting and attractive bays on Kawau
Island to call in to and check out as well as many more on the mainland
side of Kawau Bay.


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Climate

February and March are generally considered as the months with the best and
most-settled weather for the Hauraki Gulf although many other months can be
quite suitable. Average daily temperatures for these months are 25 C and 23
C respectively although the evenings can become much cooler.

The sheltered nature of the many bays and islands means you can reasonably
be assured of a great time regardless of what the weather does.

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