Magazine Bay is on the Pōhutukawa Coast, Auckland, east of Maraetai on Maraetai Coast Road. It is directly southeast of Waiomanu Beach and separated by a rocky point. The bay faces the Tāmaki Strait with views of Waiheke Island and Ponui Island. The bay’s beach has beautiful white to gold sand with a wharf in the middle. The wharf relates to the bay’s unusual history as an ammunition storage site.
Along with next door Waiomanu Beach, the bay feels surprisingly secluded despite being next to the road and only a short walk from Maraetai. A large grove of sheltering pōhutukawa trees provides a sense of separation, and the car parking is on the north side of the road. It will be busy on summer holidays and weekends, so attempt to avoid these times.
The Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki iwi name for the bay is Kakaremea. The headland to the northwest of the bay was the site of a pā known as Te Aute. Rangatira Te Whatatau gave Kakaremea to the followers of his wife, Te Raukohekohe, in the late 1600s. There is also a historic karaka tree that is associated with Māhia, a Ngāi Tai and Ngāti Pāoa ancestor.
The bay has an odd European industrial history, with no evidence besides the pier. From 1850, a gold mine operated for ten years. There wasn’t much gold, but it left behind a pile of clay. So, from 1899 to 1907, a brickworks was set up to use the clay! Then, in 1912, the Nobel Explosives Company set up an explosives magazine, hence the bay’s name. It was enlarged and camouflaged during World War II, with soldiers in Maraetai overseeing it.
Magazine Bay is connected to Maraetai and Waiomanu Beach by the Maraetai Beach Path, which is an easy walk across the points between the beaches that keeps you off the road.
