TAIRUA NEW ZEALAND

The town of Tairua is on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies at the mouth of the Tairua River on its north bank and on the small Paku Peninsula. It has a population of 1500.

As well as the safe sandy harbour which is ideal for families, there is also a first rate surf beach in Tairua.

There are some first rate motels in Tairua as well as other types of accommodation.

Directly opposite Tairua on the south bank of the river's estuary is the smaller settlement of Pauanui. The two settlements are 30 kilometres east of Thames although the town has closer connections with the sea side resort town Whangamata. Several islands lie off the mouth of the river, notably Slipper Island to the southeast and the Alderman Islands 20 kilometres to the west.

The area is a popular holiday destination noted for game fishing, diving, and surfing.
Source: Wikipedia

Tairua is small enough to bicycle to any place in town. It's a quiet area with an exceptionally nice beach good for swimming, body boarding, and surfing. There's a section of the beach for just about everything. The two weeks we were there, we never saw many people on the beach. It was wonderful.

A short distance from Tairua is Sailors Grave, a small cove with an excellent beach and more good body boarding. There are also a nice private area with some large rocks for privacy. It's off the beaten path so, when we were there, we only saw a couple of other people.