On the final leg of State Highway 1, you will see the turn-off to Piwhane Spirits Bay at the hamlet of Waitiki Landing. It is a rather slow windy 15 kms but the payoff is one of the best beaches in Northland. There is also Kapowairua, a stunning DOC campground.
The beach (Te Horo) is long, lovely, crescent-shaped, and remote. It is overlooked to the east by the 165 m Maungapiko Hill. The bay is considered sacred in Māori culture as the place where spirits gather to travel to their ancestral home. The specific location is from a large old pōhutukawa tree at Cape Reinga at the far west end of the bay.
The beach is also the start of the multi-day Te Paki Coastal Track, which is a multi-day hike to Te Paki, via Cape Reinga. You can do the first leg as a day walk. You can either walk west along the beach, watch for the orange dune marker, then head over the dunes to Waitahora lagoon and boardwalk. Or you can follow the track behind the dunes to the lagoon (an easier walk). The track then runs behind the lagoon to Pandora, an even more secluded beach. Allow 3 hr for this walk one way.
Thanks to Jan Rozek for providing the photos.
