A pirate ship with a climbing wall is the heart of the Onemana Park playground, set in the wide beach reserve that fills the middle of this small Coromandel village, ten minutes from Whangamatā.1 Reviewers love the pairing of a big pirate ship with a white-sand surf beach a short walk across the lawn.
Equipment
The ship is the standout, and the residents' association says the rest of the gear covers a range of ages.1 Google reviewers mention swings for all ages and call it good for the little ones. From the air the ship sits on a soft-fall bed beside one big tree, with the reserve's two astro-turf tennis courts and a petanque court on the same reserve.2
Access and Inclusion
The play area is not fenced. It sits well back from the main road, but a small sealed car park is right beside it, so watch toddlers there. Onemana gained two accessible public toilets in 2019.3
Practical Info
Reviewers rate the toilets and picnic tables, and several tables sit on concrete pads under pōhutukawa near the stream. Beyond the odd tree and Norfolk pine the reserve is open lawn, and one reviewer notes there is not much shade. Dogs must be on a leash on council reserves.4 The beach shelves, so swimming is best at low tide,1 and reviewers warn of rips. The surf club patrols over Christmas until late January, at Easter and Labour Weekend,2 and runs Nippers for 5 to 11 year olds in the summer holidays.1 Parts of the beach are fenced off from about September to March for nesting dotterels.2 The Boat Shed Café and the dairy are a short walk away.5 Off season you may have the place to yourself, but the village of about 200 can swell toward 3,000 at the summer peak,3 and Beach Hop classic cars roll through each year.
History and Cultural
Onemana grew from a 1970s subdivision of the Bambury family's Shangri-La farm. The area's earlier Māori name is Whitipirorua,3 and the pā on the bluff at the south end of the beach still shows the remains of its fortifications.1
