A trip to Piha in late April, saw the beaches very quiet, not like summer, with body borders, surfers and swimmers getting carried out to sea by the rips. The life guards are kept busy!
Piha is New Zealand's most famous surf beach. Situated on the west coast of the North Island, 40 kilometers from the city of Auckland, this black iron-sand beach has a reputation for awesome surf. After competing here against a New Zealand surf team in 1950, an Australian surf life saving team said they never wanted to compete on the beach again…and they haven't. When Uncle Toby's Iron Man contest was held at Piha in 1997, canoes were snapped in two.