Baylys Beach is a coastal community ten minutes west of Dargaville on Baylys Coast Road from State Highway 12. It is part of 107 km long Ripiro Beach, the longest beach in New Zealand and a significant feature of Northland's Kauri Coast. There is a commercial campground and an excellent cafe/takeaway/store. Freedom camping is also permitted.
The beach becomes very wide as the tide goes out. The sand is an amazing gold colour, interspersed with black patterns. The colour reflects the surrounding gold-to-orange sandstone cliffs on either side of the entrance through Chases Gorge.
The beach is not ideal for swimming; it is wide with rough surf, and people drive cars and buggies. So it’s more of a place for surfing, sand yachts, and surf cast fishing. If you must swim, stick to an incoming tide. There is a reserve with picnic spots and a play area along Ocean View Terrace, just before the beach entrance. From there, you can also access an excellent cliff-top coastal track. Aim to be there at sunset!
To the south of the beach entrance is a fossilised ancient kauri forest and gum in lignite rocks. The seam is at least 50,000 years old and appears as a large black outcrop in the otherwise orange to yellow-coloured cliffs. Depending on the conditions, you can also see the seam continuing towards the surf in the sand.
The cliffs around the gorge and along the beach are feature, shaped and eroded by the environment. There is a nondescript grass reserve on the left side of the gorge just before the beach, with a track to the top of the cliffs. Walking up only takes a few minutes, and the views are superb. Aim to be there at sunset!
Vehicles, including 2WD, can access the beach for up to four hours on either side of low tide. Be aware that the beach is used as a road.
