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Reotahi

The Reotahi Coastal walkway is an easy walk along a stunning piece of coastline within the Whangārei Harbour.

It skirts the Reotahi Marine Reserve and the remains of a historic meat processing plant with views over to the Marsden Point port and oil refinery.

There are magnificent pohutukawa trees along the track and sections that cut through dense forest.

It can be walked as a one-way track, in shorter sections, or can also form part of a longer circular walk in conjunction with the Mount Aubrey track.

Photo showing a reserve and playground on Norfolk Avenue, part of the Reotahi Coastal Walk.

Parking and car access

You can start the walk from its McLeod Bay access including car parking, from Stuart Road, by the community hall.

For a shorter walk from the Reotahi Marine Reserve, park at the public carpark, up a steep rise at the end of Beach Road. There are also toilets and picnic tables at this location.

To access the playground directly, park on Norfolk Avenue.

The walk can also be started from the south-eastern end at Little Munro Bay. Parking on Bay View Road.

Photo showing Stuart Road and Mount Aubrey.

What to expect

An easy and well-marked walk, but with some flights of steps in places .
A variety of coastal environments.
Access to Mount Aubrey for a longer route that can loop back closer to Stuart Road.

Mount Aubrey

There may be some known and potential hazards that users should be aware of and avoid.

Known hazards in caves and on Council reserves

McLeod Bay to Reotahi walkway

Grade: 2
Time: 1.5 hours (one-way)
Distance: 2.8 km

Starting at the end of Stuart Road in McLeods Bay, a surfaced walkway follows the coast along the edge of a Department of Conservation reserve. This is an easy section to walk with only a few steps along the route.

At the bottom of the Matuku street, a bridge crosses the creek and the walkway passes over a grassy area before turning left up into Norfolk Avenue.

Two impressive Norfolk Pine trees mark the start of the reserve and the walkway continues here on the other side of the playground, going down some steps to Reotahi Road.

Turning right leads up to the car park at the end of Beach Road where there are public toilets.

From the car park, the walkway continues past the Whangarei Harbour Marine Reserve, named after Motukaroko Island within it.

The path is an easy grade and mostly surfaced as it passes through the remains of the old freezing works which operated between 1910 and 1921, exporting frozen meat to England.

The walkway continues on towards Little Munro Bay, passing the track up to Mount Aubrey on the left about 300 metres before the end.