Places to go
North of Auckland

So many international travellers arrive in New Zealand and head South so we thought we’d highlight some of our team’s favourite places to visit that are heading North from us! 

 

Auckland is the gateway to Northland which has recently made it onto the National Geographic’s list of the best travel destinations in the world to visit in 2025! 

 

The region has beautiful beaches and warm waters that offer excellent diving, especially at the Poor Knights marine reserve, just off Tutukaka Coast, which offers some of the best scuba diving in the world. Tutukaka is just 2.5 hours drive north from our Parakai base.

 

Just North of Auckland lies an abundance of incredible beaches such as Tāwharanui, Mangawhai and Waipu to name just a few, all within 1.5 hours drive of our Parakai base. Tāwharanui is a national park with great beaches for surfing and swimming plus a short, easy ecology trail. Mangwhai beach has a cliff walkway which is a beautiful 2 hour coastal walk which requires low tide to complete the full loop. Waipu beach is known for it’s swimming, surfing and fishing plus there is a 1.5 hour walk around Waipu Caves where you’ll see stalactites and stalagmites and glow worms.

 

Ninety Mile Beach on the western coast of Northland and is actually 88km long. On a clear day, from 18,000ft during your skydive with us you can see Ninety Mile Beach from the sky! This beach is nearly 5 hours drive North from Parakai which shows how far you can see from 18,000ft!

 

P.S. You can also find us featured on the KAYAK Auckland Travel Guide