Kariotahi Beach

Story

Karioitahi Beach is a black sand beach located in Franklin District, near Auckland, on the west coast of New Zealand.It is a rugged and windswept environment, often used for beach activities such as surfing, fishing, horse riding, off-road motorcycling and, most notably, paragliding. This provides lifeguards with a large variety of potential hazards to mitigate and situations to deal with as detailed as the location for 3 Rescue of the Month awards from Surf Life Saving New Zealand in two seasons (2009/2010 & 2010/2011)Beach Name VariationThere appears to be some confusion about the spelling of Kariotahi. It has been rumoured that Karioitahi is indeed the correct way. It is usually referred to in the media, and road name, as Karioitahi Beach. However, it is also referred to as Kariotahi reasonably often as well. The local surf club has adopted the spelling Kariaotahi.Surf Life Saving KariaotahiThe local surf club, originally named 'Kariaotahi Surf Life Saving Patrol Inc' and later renamed in 2006 to be 'Surf Life Saving Kariaotahi Inc', was founded in 1969. Patrols operate on all weekends and public holidays from Labour Weekend in October to March or early April, with minimum patrolling hours being 1100 hrs–1600 hrs Oct/Nov/March/April and 1100 hrs–1700 hrs Dec/Jan/February. Weekday patrols (1000 hrs–1800 hrs) are run from mid-December until late January.