The east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula has more than its fair share of pretty beaches.
For generations, Kiwis built their baches there – little one-room, fibrolite or board-and-batten buildings within spitting distance of the dunes and the gorgeous beach beyond. Happily there are still one or two precious spots on the Coromandel Peninsula that are still untouched by developers and retain that Kiwi spirit of pōhutukawa-framed summer holidays. Cathedral Cove is one example. New Chums Beach is another.
In fact, British newspaper, The Observer, ranked the latter as one of the 20 best deserted beaches in the world. New Chums Beach is in Wainuiototo Bay, handy to both Whitianga and Coromandel townships. To get there, you’ll need to drive to Whangapoua Beach and then hoof it. It’s about a 30-minute walk, which begins with a wade through the estuary at the northern end of Whangapoua Beach at low tide.
A track crosses a saddle over the southern headland and there you are, overlooking a classically-formed stretch of dazzling white sand, backed with bush that is in turn fringed with pōhutukawa and confronts the sparkling water of Mercury Bay. New Chums Beach.
Shellfish can be gathered here (and in the Whangapoua estuary on the way). What a spot for a picnic, a swim and a bit of basking in the sun. But get in quick. There are already plans afoot to subdivide the land behind New Chums Beach, and yet another slice of paradise will be lost to us. It’s now or never!