I rediscovered Whiritoa which is on the Coromandel peninsula, a few years ago, when I met up with some old school friends, who also have two boys of a similar age and a bach there. It is a great place to visit with the kids due to the awesome lagoon at the northern end of the beach. I highly recommend checking it out. And it only takes 1 hour from Tauranga!

I took our relatives there during the summer, and while the kids were splashing about and the adults were hanging out watching, I snuck away for a quick walk up and over the hill to Waimama Bay, barefoot.

It felt wonderful connecting with the earth beneath me on this quick adventure. Check out the video below to see what the track is like.

The track entry is on the other side of the lagoon which can be reached by wading across or walking around if you prefer to keep dry! The track sign says 30 minutes to the beach but I got there in 15 easy minutes. FYI there are NO facilities there and NO lifeguards.

Waimama is a super pretty beach and there was hardly anyone around. It would be a great place for a picnic.

The Whiritoa lagoon, as you can see is a whole lot of fun and is usually pretty busy over the summer months with families paddling, swimming, swinging, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, kids with nets, inflatable flamingos etc… etc… but there is such a lot of space it never feels too crowded. A sun umbrella is a good idea though. Sometimes the tidal flows create a fun little wave like you can see in the video above, where the kids can catch a wave and body board from the lagoon towards the sea. Whiritoa beach on the other hand often has a steep drop off and big dumping waves. We always recommend swimming between the flags.

When was the last time you took your shoes off and connected with mother earth? Comment below.👍🌿🌊👣