Cooper Reserve

Cooper Reserve is the rocky northern end of Stanmore Bay, where a small swing playground sits beside the toilet block at the top of the Cooper Road boat ramp car park.¹ On Auckland's Whangaparāoa Peninsula, it suits families who come for the beach and the rock pools first and want somewhere for little ones to swing between swims.

Equipment

Play here is simple. Auckland Council's beach walk guide describes it as children's swings just up the hill from the Cooper Road boat ramp, and aerial imagery shows the swing frame standing on a small sandy pad next to the toilets.² A recent Google reviewer counted three seats, a standard swing, a baby seat and one you lie down in, and warned that older online photos are out of date. There is no slide or climbing frame, so school-age kids will move on quickly.

For bigger play, walk about 650 metres southeast along the sand to Stanmore Bay Park, whose beachfront playground has a large climbing web, a flying fox and a separate toddler area.² Shadon Reserve, a compact neighbourhood playground, is about a kilometre to the west.

Access and Inclusion

Accessible parking spaces sit right beside the playground, which makes the swings an easy stop with a wheelchair or pram.¹ The beach itself is down the hill from the car park, a walk one reviewer using a walker chose to skip.

Practical Info

The car park, reached from the end of Cooper Road, and the toilets are open 7am to 9pm in summer and 7am to 7pm in winter.¹ Reviewers rate the toilets as well kept, but parking at this end is limited, and one regular suggests the southern end of the bay when it is busy.

This is the end of the beach for exploring. At low tide the rock platforms open up into rock pools and a cave, but the stretch becomes hard to walk at high tide, so check the tide before setting out.² Pōhutukawa along the shore give summer shade.

Dogs are banned from the playground and must be on a lead in the reserve.¹ On the beach, dogs are not allowed between 10am and 5pm from 1 December to 1 March.³ For coffee, the nearest option reviewers mention is the Stanmore Bay Pool and Leisure Centre at the far end of the bay.