Otara Bay, north of Sailors Grave Te Karo, is one of the prettiest but least-known beaches on the east coast of the Coromandel. To get there, either take the Otara Track over the point from Sailors Grave Memorial or walk/clamber around the rocks at the base of the point between the two beaches. The pictures here include the rock hopping option, which is much slower than walking the track.
As with Sailors Grave, the colour of the sand and surrounding rocks is a feature. There is also a photogenic small island and a collection of rock formations on the point. However, in our experience, it is not as good a place to swim as Sailors Grave. It looks nice, but there are quite a few hard-to-see rocks in the sand around the surf break.
The beach is backed by rejuvenating native forest, including kauri. There was also a 3 km track from the beach to State Highway 25, with two ancient kauri trees about halfway along, but this has been closed due to kauri dieback risks.
