When I’m at the beach I’m a swimmer, not a sunbather.

When I first moved here, I found a few guides to Wellington beaches but there’s one thing none of them mentioned. One VERY important thing – water temperature!

Wellington water is cold!

I have done the Nieuwjaarsduik (New Year’s Dive) in The Netherlands. Yet somehow, diving into the North Sea in the middle of a European winter was less excruciating than my one and only swim at Princess Bay on Wellington’s south coast.

SHOW ME THE STATS!

I wanted to know where the water is warmest in Wellington. Thankfully, Greater Wellington Regional Council provides open source data with water temperature stats dating back about 20 years.

I’ve crunched the numbers. First I calculated the average summer water temperatures at our various coastal swimming spots. Then I weighted those numbers with the highest recorded water temperatures. Now I can tell you where you’ll have the best chance of the warmest summer swim in Wellington.

So have a guess. Go on. Where do you reckon the Wellington Region’s warmest water is? Spoiler Alert: It’s not Princess Bay!

I didn’t realise how many swimmable beaches and bays Wellington had until I set out to photograph them all. Here’s 24, ordered from coldest to warmest, but you can skip straight to the Top 5 if you like.

24. Owhiro Bay
Average: 16.53°C
High: 21°C

23. Island Bay
Average: 16.86°C
High: 21.3°C

22. Titahi Bay
Average: 17.18°C
High: 21.3°C

21. Onehunga Bay
Average: 17.29°C
High: 20.4°C

20. Lyall Bay
Average: 17.38°C
High: 21.2°C

19. Breaker Bay
Average: 17.44°C
High: 21.1°C

18. Princess Bay
Average: 17.46°C
High: 21.4°C

17. Plimmerton Beach
Average: 17.82°C
High: 22°C

16. Scorching Bay
Average: 18.15°C
High: 21.5°C

15. Balaena Bay
Average: 18.24°C
High: 21.3°C

14. Worser Bay
Average: 18.26°C
High: 21.4°C

13. Freyberg Beach
Average: 18.25°C
High: 21.5°C

12. Taranaki Street Wharf
Average: 18.33°C
High: 21.2°C

11. Pukerua Bay
Average: 18.04°C
High: 23.8°C

10. Paekakariki Beach
Average: 18.23°C
High: 22.4°C

9. Hataitai Beach
Average: 18.44°C
High: 21.5°C

8. Oriental Bay Beach
Average: 18.52°C
High: 21.8°C

7. Days Bay
Average: 18.56°C
High: 22.3°C

6. Raumati Beach
Average: 18.65°C
High: 23.3°C

Now that you’ve seen 19 beaches, want to take another guess at Wellington’s warmest before you see the Top 5?

Wellington’s Top 5 Warmest Beaches

Counting them down, from 5 through to 1. Here are Wellington’s warmest summer water temperatures.

5. Point Howard Beach
Average: 18.58°C
High: 25.3°C

4. Waikanae Beach
Average: 18.89°C
High: 23.4°C

3. Paraparaumu Beach
Average: 18.99°C
High: 22.7°C

2. Petone Beach
Average: 18.86°C
High: 24.2°C

Before revealing Wellington’s warmest beach, let’s get some context. The water isn’t much warmer around Auckland in the summer months. Their temperatures average 17.5°C in December and 19.5°C in February.

It’s a different story in Invercargill with summer water temperature maxing out around 13°C!

New Zealand’s northernmost beach at Spirits Bay is probably the warmest with summer water temperatures regularly reaching 21°C.

1. Dolly Varden Beach
Average: 18.86°C
High: 26.4°C

Dolly Varden Beach? I’d never heard of it! It’s right next to the Paremata Bridge on the Pauatahanui Arm of Porirua Harbour. It’s perfect for families because the water is quite shallow. That’s also probably why the water is warm. If you want to catch a train there, get off at Paremata station and follow the walkway which takes you along Mana Esplanade.

In a future post, I’ll give you the rundown on swimming holes that only the locals know. But first, I’ve got to find them!