Whites Bay Beach

HELLO, HEAVEN

11 DECEMBER 2022
Updated 26 January 2024

The keyhole rock is easy to get to at low tide

One Of The Best Views In New Zealand

Marlborough has some of the most beautiful beaches we have been to in New Zealand, like Mussel Point and Ward Beach, but our favourite is Whites Bay which is just 25-minutes north of Blenheim.

We were looking for a sandy and calm beach for the girls to go swimming in as the others seem to have strong currents and were rocky, so a quick Google search told us Whites Bay was the best option for us.

The drive from Blenheim took us past loads of vineyards but the BEST part was the last 10-15 minutes where we were greeted with incredible views across the ocean at Caribbean blue water, lush green forests and rows and rows of vineyards which seemed to be in absolutely perfect lines! There are a few places to pull over on the way back to Blenheim and we highly recommend you go on a reeeeeally sunny day (not hard to find in Marlborough!) and take the time to stop and enjoy the views. You're super high up, so watch your step!

The road near the beach takes you through lush green bush

Look at those straight lines in the vineyard!!

There are a range of short walks to do around Whites Bay

We couldn't get over how amazing this view was!

You are up seriously high at this point

You Know It's Good When You're There Two Days In A Row

We loved Whites Bay so much that we went two days in a row. Usually our adventures are a one-time kinda deal as we have so much to explore in an area before we head off to the next, so if we go twice then you know it's bloody awesome.

We didn't expect the beach to be so busy the first day we went, as it's far from any big towns, but it was pretty packed and being a bluebird Sunday it made sense. Access to the beach is through a campground, so lots of campers were hanging out at the beach.

As soon as you walk onto the beach, you're greeted with clear, calm water and breath-taking views and if you're there on a clear enough day you might even see across to Wellington in the North Island.

Unclear as to why it's named Whites Bay... people boast about its white sand but, er, no white sand here! We were expecting it to be white like Kai Iwi Lakes but it's just a minor detail because we also happen to love golden/brown sand.

Beautiful reflections

Yes, he's wearing shorts!!

We walked past the water at high tide so we could have the whole right side of the beach to ourselves

The rocks looked very similar to the ones at Mussel Point and Ward Beach

Best View On The Beach

On the righthand side of the beach there are some 'stairs' that take you to a few lookout points and we HIGHLY recommend heading up here - it does not disappoint.

I'm not the best with heights so I stayed at a point where I was comfortable and the views here were just incredible! We had magnificent views across Whites Bay and also out across the ocean where the water was an unreal blue colour. Lath headed up the cliff further and he tried to convince me to head up as the views were even better but no thank yooooou I stayed where I was happy enough. There are no handrails or ropes heading up the stairs so it's a bit of a grab and hold on kinda deal and I went up in bare feet one time which was easy enough to do.

We met a really awesome family up here while we were all looking at the views and they were also doing the same thing as us - travelling the South Island, homeschooling their kids and they were in the same line of work. They had 2 girls and all 4 played together for aaages on the beach and had an absolute blast! We ended up meeting up that evening at Christmas in the Park in Blenheim to hang out and listen to the music and we hope we can meet them again on our travels!

The view is beautiful and both low and high tide

Hawaii vibes

The view on the other side of the rocks

The viewpoint looking out to Rarangi Beach

The climb up to the viewpoint is short

Monday Morning Bliss

There's nothing better than heading to the beach early on a Monday morning to have half the beach to yourself! We headed to the right end of the beach so we could be near the rocks to explore once the tide went out and to get there, we walked through ankle deep water. This put people off from heading down that end of the beach, so we had it all to ourselves for about 4 hours! We found a cave which was perfect for us to set up in as it looked out to the water and kept us and our food cool for the day.

We found this end of the beach to be the calmest water for the girls to swim in and go on their boogie boards.... not that it is even remotely a rough beach but some days they just don't like waves so you gotta go with the flow. The water was cooooooold and it actually hurt my calves as they were still a bit sore from the hike up Mt Vernon and the walk out to the TSS Waverly shipwreck, so it took a while to get used to the cold. Lath loved it, he loves cold water and cold showers! The kids didn't notice the cold too much as they were having far too much fun but even then the sun was so hot, it was easy to warm up. (Plus their granny had packed them some hot chocolate in a thermos to warm them up).

Lath is an awesome dad to the girls

Not a bad view for ya Monday morning!

The water was cool but warm enough to go in

Is That An ORCA WHALE?!

In January 2024, we were heading home from a day at Whites Bay and I had literally just finished saying to Lath that it's a shame there aren't any dolphins etc here and I turn to look out at the ocean and I saw a black figure just outside of the bay. At first I thought it was a kayaker and then I realised it was a whale!! It was a super black fin so we knew it was an orca and then we saw another couple of fins, including a teeeeny tiny baby one!

I saw them heading to the right of the bay, so I climbed the cliff to get a good shot of them. This wasn't the best idea as I HATE heights and ended up having to get Lath to come up and get me when I needed to get back down! I got a few photos of them as they made their way towards me but then they turned back towards the bay. I wish I had gone by the keyhole rock as it would have been the perfect spot to see them... but a higher view is usually the best! Bella said that the orcas were jumping out of the water too and I totally missed it coming down from the cliff!

This was such a rare occurrence to see these guys as they don't make a regular visit to Whites Bay but you never know your luck with seeing them here.

Bella Found A GIANT Fish!

Exploring the rock pools is oooobviously best done at low tide, but we went just after high tide to see what we could see. It took a bit of stepping over this and that as well as holding onto here, no there, ok that will do, but we got there in the end!

I went to check it all out by myself at first and there was one big rock pool that was super clear and had no shells or rocks in it which I thought would have been so much fun for the kids to have a play in. Unfortunately a group of guys who arrived just after me had the same idea, so they were jumping into it and it went all murky, so by the time Lath and the girls came over with me the 2nd time, it wasn't so crystal clear any more!

Sienna hopped into another one and really enjoyed that. It had some shells and rocks in it but it was still fun for her as it was up to her waist.

There wasn't too much marine life going on in the rock pools but Bella did spot a HUUUUUUUUUUGE FISH (!!!) which turned out to be a sprat about 2cms long haha and I saw a crab scuttling along.

Exploring the rocks near the keyhole

The water around here is such a beautiful colour

There's a big rock pool here that's nice to chill in at low tide

Keyhole Rock

The hidden treasure of these rocks is definitely the keyhole rock tucked around the corner which makes for beautiful photos. The water is really deep around here and it would be tempting to jump in, but the swells look strong in this particular part so I wouldn't recommend it.

It made a nice photo looking through to Rarangi Beach where we stopped off at on our way back from Whites Bay. It would have made an even better photo if the water was like glass and there was a nice reflection.... but mahoosive wishful thinking at the beach!

The current looks strong around the keyhole so it's probably not the best for swimming

Whites Bay is just a short drive from Blenheim and one of the only sandy beaches in the area

View through the keyhole to Rarangi Beach

A sunrise or sunset shot through the keyhole would be beautiful

Teeny Weeny Paua Shell

As with every beach visit, we seek out the weird and wonderful and we were pleasantly surprised what we found at Whites Bay. I found THE CUTEST baby paua shell we have ever seen! Usually they are bigger than the palm of my hand, so to find one smaller than my fingernail was pretty epic and it's a keeper for sure... as long as Bella butterfingers doesn't try and add it to her shell collection ;)

On our way back to the car we found a turtle that someone had cleverly designed from sand and we decided we would most definitely be attempting to create one just like it on our next beach visit - what a cool thing to make.

There was only one piece of seaweed at Whites Bay

A turtle sand sculpture someone had made

The girl's awesome sandcastle

Baby paua shell!

This Beach Rocks!

The rocks here were really intriguing and reminded us of the ones at Ward Beach and Mussel Point about 1 hour down the coast, with their jagged edges. Yes, very sharp... wear shoes! My first attempt was in bare feet as I was climbing up from in the water and ho damn I quickly realised I really needed to get my sneakers on!

Some of the rocks looked a bit like spider webs but at the same time like loads of ghoulish faces melting down the rockface. Bella's favourite part about the rocks was when she saw the calcite veins running through the boulders - anything crystal, shells or rocks, Bella's ya girl!

Every angle of Whites Bay Beach is beautiful

Interesting rock face patterns

I believe this is calcite veins running through the rocks but let me know if you know!

What a great place for spiders to play hide and seek

Picnics Are The Best

Lath and the girls spent ages digging a big hole, hoping either the tide would come in and fill it up or that they would hit a water table but unfortunately the water only came in a little bit and no table was hit!

The girls can spend hours at the beach playing and never get bored.... but they do get hungry, there's no doubt about that! We love to take picnic lunches and snacks to the beach as well as ice cold drinks - so refreshing.

I love the contrast in this picture

Mr Crab vs Mrs Seagull

I'm a big fan of taking wildlife snaps (if only with my long lense) and I just happened to be taking a photo of Mrs Seagull chillin' in the ocean, when she jumped up in the air, dove into the water, pulled out Mr Crab, flew to shore with him perched in her mouth and after a very short-lived tussle.... swallowing him in one big gulp.

Did Mr Crab get crushed on the way down the esophagus, or did Mrs Seagull feel him pinch her all the way into the stomach? Well, I'm just glad I don't have to eat whole crabs like that!

I didn't have time to change the settings on my camera so the shots would come out clearer but I'm happy I got these snaps. I definitely want to invest in a telescopic lense, I get really frustrated when I see incredible species around me but can't zoom in or get close enough!

Going in for the dive

Did she get it?

Yes, she did!

Going in for the beach landing

Rarangi Beach

On our way home, we stopped in at Rarangi Beach which was about 10-minutes' drive from Whites Bay (although it took about 20 mins by the time we had stopped to look at the view on the way over!). The contrast is so stark compared to White Bay, with the rough waves, strong currents and gaziiiillion rocks.

It's a beautiful spot to stop and enjoy the view and the peace and it would be a great beach to walk along, searching for treasure. Lath and Sienna stayed in the car while Bella and I searched along the beach looking for any gemstones or cool rocks. We didn't find any on this trip, the rocks were mostly grey and boring (according to Bella) but we did find some 'caves' to explore - well, more like large gaps in the cliff face (Nothing like Waipu Caves or Abbey Caves in Northland.). We didn't find anything interesting inside them but we did see some super vibrant orange lichen on the rocks near the entrance.

From Ratangi Beach we could see the Wither Hills where we climbed up Mt Vernon and we could faintly make out Wellington in the North Island but it wasn't the clearest. The obvious clue was the clouds above Wellington. Aotearoa = the land of the long white cloud!

Across the main road from the beach was the most beautiful field with tall golden grass as far as the eye could see and purple flowers scattered along the field so of course I dodged cars and risked my life to get across and get a photo (kidding... there was only one car).

We didn't stay long at Rarangi and definitely prefer Whites Bay for chilling at

Rarangi Beach

The beach is such a stark contrast to Whites Bay just around the corner

Vibrant orange lichen on the rocks

Beautiful golden fields opposite Rarangi Beach

Know Before You Go

As with any beach, the sand can get HOT in summer. We needed our jandals to walk on the dry sand or we were in a lot of pain!
If you want to see the keyhole rock, head there at low tide for the best access. You can clamber over the rocks around 1 hour after high tide, or swim over and climb onto the rocks
It can get super busy in summer, so get there as early as possible to get a park
The viewpoints we stopped at are on the opposite side of the road when travelling from Blenheim. The road is narrow with lots of blind spots so don't try to attempt to cross over to these bays, instead stop on the way back. It's insanely high up there and there are no barriers!
There are no shops at Whites Bay
There are a few walking tracks which you will see along the drive from Blenheim and there is limited parking for these
This is a great beach for kids to swim in, it was calm and clear both days we went - the right-hand side of the beach seemed to be the calmest

Mappy McMap Face

Getting There

Whites Bay is 25-minutes northeast of Blenheim and is a fantastic drive.

From Port Underwood Road, turn right into the Whites Bay Campsite. Head down to the end and you'll see some parking spots. If they are full, there is a large grass area to the right where you can park.

The beach access is easy to spot - just in front of the carpark is a path leading past the Rarangi Surf Club.

Conclusion

Whites Bay is one of our FAVOURITE beaches in New Zealand! Not only does the drive to the beach show incredible views (seriously incredible), but walking onto the beach is like walking into heaven. The water is crystal clear at your feet but blue and emerald out to sea. The views from up at the viewpoint is amazing and we highly recommend going up to see it for yourself.