St Leonard's Beach, Takapuna

I will admit, I was initially reluctant to visit St Leonard's after a bit of a Google, as it is advertised on the internets as something of a nude beach. Don't get me wrong, I grew up on Waiheke Island, I am no prude, but the doggy habit of nose-meets-stranger's-crotch is embarrassing enough when said stranger is fully clothed. I also imagined the beach would have a closed in, creepy, perverted vibe.

I couldn't have been more wrong. St Leonard's is now one of my absolute favourite places to take Nikki, despite the 14km drive to get there! I love visiting Onehunga "beach" but I wouldn't swim there. St. Leonard's beach is a nice, clean sandy one, so it's one of the few places you can take your dog and enjoy a swim WITH them, and in the heat of the day too, as unlike neighboring Takapuna, dogs are allowed there all times of the day.

At low tide the beach is of a substantial size for running, playing, chasing a ball, stick or fellow doggy, but at high tide it's pretty much just somewhere to swim. Which is fine by me, and as long as I have a ball to throw, fine by Nikki. The dogs that come here are "shore" dogs, so usually a Golden Retriever puppy or a well behaved Border Collie. The people there are usually very nice and fully clothed.  In fact I haven't seen any nudity in my frequent visits over the summer. I did see wedding photos going on (I could just picture Nix running up and jumping excitedly all over that beautiful white dress) and a school trip from Takapuna grammar up on the cliff, but no creepy nudes. Not a one.

I am going to give this a rather high score, but keep in mind I am incredibly biased towards lovely beaches (as I said, I grew up on Waiheke). The only negative I could give it is the steep stairs in and out (I am so incredibly lazy) and the distance, which obviously doesn't apply to everyone. Four and a half stars, cus nobody's perfect. ****<


View Larger Map