Lonely Bay
Lonely Bay in the Coromandel is immediately around the point northwest of Cooks Beach. You can walk in on a track from Cooks or from the Shakespeare Cliff access road, off Purangi Road. There are a few parks above the bay, or park at the larger clifftop car park, with a steeper walk down.
The bay is a stunning small east coast beach with colourful sand rich in dissolving seashells, surrounded by white cliffs and big pohutukawa trees. It is pretty much everything we love about these beaches. It is also a safe place to swim. And it is barely known relative to the much more popular Cathedral Cove and its walkway.
The area's name came from its relative isolation when Captain Cook explored it in 1769. The crew spent significant time repairing their ship, the Endeavour, there.
