Auckland is known as The City of Sails. So many boats sail and anchor in the waters around New Zealand’s biggest city. The islands and bays near Auckland are some great cruising grounds. We enjoyed sailing around Auckland.
Getting to Auckland by Boat
We sailed from Fiji to Whangarei, New Zealand in November, and spent a few months in the marina there. With friends on board in late December, we took our catamaran to several anchorages before berthing in Auckland for a couple of nights.
The anchorages were varied except for a few things: they were all beautiful, very busy with mostly Kiwi boats, and had good holding. Finding a place to anchor is easy. Being a liveaboard is relatively painless when you’re sailing around Auckland.
We spent most of our time motoring or motor sailing around Auckland. The winds were not strong, but they were mostly with us, at least. We chose not to sail further south because the winds get a lot stronger, and further south there are nowhere near as many places to anchor.
Where to Anchor When Sailing Around Auckland
Like smart sailors, we chose our anchorages based on wind and weather. This is easy to do here, as almost all anchorages in this part of New Zealand offer something of interest. Some islands have more amenities than others, and some, but not all, are inhabited. Even the uninhabited islands usually have hiking trails, and most are good for swimming, if you can handle the cold water. I’ve already shared our favorite things to do in Auckland, now, here are some of our favorite spots to anchor while sailing around Auckland.
kawau island
We loved anchoring at Kawau Island. It has everything: dinghy docks for easy access to shore, hikes, and fun bars and restaurants.
We hiked across the island to the national park, which was lovely, with scenic views, peacocks and a cafe for lunch.
We also loved the Kawau Boating Club, a busy bar and restaurant in the bay. It helped that it was New Years weekend so everybody was out and in a good mood.
Waiheke Island
The Wine island is more fun by boat, in my opinion. You’re not rushing to get to as many wine tastings as possible, so there’s more time to hike and just wander and enjoy the scenery. We went right after New Years, primetime summer holidays, and while the anchorages were busy, there was always room for another boat – or seven – to anchor. We anchored in a few different spots: Oneroa and Man O War bay, and they were both beautiful places to anchor.
Everywhere we anchored the water was still cold, but I swam and floated and braced myself for the low 20 degree water temperature.
The coromandel
Another fabulous place to stop when sailing around Auckland is The Coromandel Peninsula. With limited road access, the traffic gets really bad in summertime, so we are lucky to not have to worry about that on our boat. With tons of anchorages to choose from, we could have spent a month tooling around this part of New Zealand.
We loved the hike on the privately owned Great Mercury Island, and went to town for lunch, shopping, and another short hike in Whitianga (pronounced fi·tee·ang·uh, that WH as an F again in Maori).
Also on Whitianga, we visited a winery for a nice lunch and enjoyed walking there and back through neighborhoods full of baches (Kiwi slang for summer homes).
Final Stop in Tauranga
We ended our few weeks of North Island sailing in Tauranga, approximately 230 miles from our starting point in Whangarei. Tauranga means “Resting Place” in Maori, and is a good spot for Go to take a break while we campervan around this beautiful country. After that, we will sail north and visit more lovely spots in New Zealand before we leave.
Sailing Around Auckland: Conclusion
Sailing around New Zealand is great. So many Kiwis have boats, but there’s always room for another one in the bay. And because it’s such a boater culture, boating here is easy. There’s places to park the dinghy, gas docks, and plenty of marine equipment and repair people. The jumps between towns and bays are small and there are usually multiple options on where to anchor. It’s not always like this and another reason to love New Zealand.
Have you been sailing around Auckland or New Zealand and have tips, or any New Zealand travel tips? Please share in the comments!
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