Ūawa / Tolaga Bay

Ūawa / Tolaga Bay is a sheltered bay that needs a solid swell to come to life, but when an E or NE groundswell wraps in, the right-hand bar on the south side of the river mouth is the wave worth the drive. It runs both rights and lefts, the right the long one, hollow or wally depending on how the sand is sitting, and it breaks best at lower tide for experienced surfers. Out front, the open beach break is shorter and faster and often closes out, a mellow all-levels option on the smaller, more common days. The bay sits in the lee of its southern headland, one of the few stretches of this coast that stays clean in a southerly, so it can be the pick when the wind is wrong everywhere else.

The 660-metre Tolaga Bay Wharf, built in the 1920s and one of the longest in the Southern Hemisphere, presides over all of it, out over the Pacific on aging concrete. Cook anchored the Endeavour here in 1769, but the enduring story belongs to Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, the iwi of Ūawa, whose connection to this coastline runs far deeper. South past the wharf the coast keeps giving for surfers willing to walk and explore.

• Head straight for the right-hand bar at the south end on a solid E or NE swell and a lower tide, and save the beach out front for the smaller, more common days when you just want a mellow paddle.
• On big days the paddle-out is the puzzle, so do as the locals do and jump off the old wharf at the south end rather than punching through the shorebreak.
• When a southerly is blowing everywhere else, point the car here first, because the southern headland keeps this one of the cleaner bays on the coast in that wind.
• Walk the wharf in any weather, 660 metres of 1920s concrete over the Pacific, and pair a surf with the Cook's Cove Walkway (5.8 km, 2 to 3 hours, closed for lambing August to late October) for a full East Coast day.
• Reach Cook's Cove on the 25-minute walk from the wharf for its right-hand point, then explore the banks around Mitre Rocks, Pourewa Island and Anaura Bay 20 minutes north if you have the time and legs.

• Rocks cluster at the south end near the river mouth and the wharf, with more around Mitre Rocks, and the right bar breaks close in to them, so know your line and your exit before you take off.
• The river-mouth sandbar shifts constantly and rips run near the outlet, so the rip doubles as both the hazard and your read on where the channel is sitting that day.
• Getting out on a big day is committing, and even the local trick of jumping off the old wharf to clear the shorebreak is not for everyone, so weigh your fitness honestly.
• This is remote East Cape coast with the further breaks reached on foot, so carry water, tell someone your plan and do not surf the outlying spots alone.

Getting there

Ūawa / Tolaga Bay, 45 minutes (52 km) north of Gisborne on SH35, sealed the whole way. Turn onto Solander Street for the main beach and river mouth, or take the Wharf Road turnoff 2 km south of the township for the wharf and the south-end bar.

Parking

Sealed parking at the main beach off Solander Street, and a larger beach carpark by the wharf and holiday park at the south end. Park near the wharf for the right-hand bar and the Cook's Cove track.

Toilets & showers

Public toilets at the wharf and the main beach. Tolaga Bay Holiday Park has showers for guests, plus a fish-cleaning bench down by the wharf.

Shops, cafes & fuel

Tolaga Bay township has a cafe, a Four Square grocery and fuel, a few minutes back from the beach. Gisborne, 45 minutes south, for anything more.

Accommodation

Tolaga Bay Holiday Park sits beachfront at the base of Mount Titirangi overlooking the wharf, with cabins, self-contained units and campsites. Motels and a handful of baches around the township; Gisborne has the fuller range 45 minutes south.

Camping

Tolaga Bay Holiday Park is the beachfront camp for vans and tents, powered and non-powered. Self-contained freedom camping is restricted under the GDC bylaw, so the holiday park is the reliable option. The Cook's Cove Walkway car park is day-use only.