Kaiteriteri Beach

Kaiteriteri Beach is a small crescent of golden sand at Kaiteriteri village, tucked between wooded headlands on Tasman Bay. It is a good place for swimming, paddling and a proper beach day, and it is also the main southern water-taxi and kayak gateway into Abel Tasman National Park. The beach sits in the adjoining Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve, just outside the national park boundary. Expect a lively holiday setting rather than a wilderness shore. The bay is often sheltered, but the inlet by the estuary changes with the tide and its current strengthens as water drains.

Kaiteriteri is a place to board a water taxi or launch a kayak, not the Coast Track's walking trailhead. The walking entrance is about 7 km away, so don't set out on foot from here to reach it. Book a boat or kayak transfer ahead if this is part of your park plan, and check tide-sensitive crossing details. In peak summer, especially around Christmas and New Year, crowds and parking can be a headache; come early if you are driving.

A short path over the southern headland looks back across the main beach and continues to Little Kaiteriteri, a separate bay. If you want the classic view of the golden crescent, take the path up rather than stopping at the sand. From higher up, you can fit the curve, blue-green water and wooded headlands into one frame.

Kaiteriteri's history reaches beyond beach holidays. On 29 October 1841, twelve Motueka rangatira met New Zealand Company leader Captain Arthur Wakefield at Kaiteriteri during disputed land negotiations. Ngāti Rārua and Te Ātiawa histories describe efforts to set limits on what was being ceded and protect Te Maatu. A public meeting in 1936 later confirmed Kaiteriteri's future as a holiday destination and led to the first Kaiteretere Domain Board.