Sunburst Reserve & Tamatea Esplanade

This small playground at Sunburst Reserve in Snells Beach, on the Mahurangi coast north of Auckland, sits right on the car park edge beside the boat ramp, looking across the bay to Kawau Island.¹ It suits a beach day with toddlers more than a playground outing in its own right.

Equipment

The play area is a strip of bark at the foot of a steep grass bank. A timber fort carries a yellow slide, a ladder and a hanging bridge across to a second platform, with a swing frame beside it. One parent sums it up as a mini slide, a couple of swings and a climbing bridge, best for really little ones and usually quiet. Older kids will want more, and the Sunrise Boulevard playground, about 750 m south along the beach, has it.

Access and Inclusion

The playground is unfenced, with only timber bollards between it and the car park, so keep a hand on runners. There is no shade over the play equipment. Dogs are banned on the playground and must be leashed nearby, and the beach north of the boat ramp is closed to dogs from September to March.² That northern end is a New Zealand dotterel breeding site.³

History and Cultural

In 2017 the Kawau Bay Fishing Club raised money to build a shelter beside the playground for everyone to use.⁴ A roofed shelter with a picnic table now stands at the car park edge.

Practical Info

Council lists toilets, an outdoor shower outside the toilet block, picnic tables and a one-lane concrete boat ramp with parking.² Reviewers say the toilets are kept clean. The car park doubles as a freedom camping site: signs allow self-contained vehicles in five marked bays after 5pm, so evenings bring campervans and boat trailers. A concrete foreshore path runs along the beach under pōhutukawa, good for scooters. At low tide the bay drains to wide sand flats over seagrass beds,¹ so check the tide if swimming is the plan. Ariki Reserve is about 500 m south.