Where are the best places to snowboard/go to the beach?

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Dangerous

You're chosing the wrong places for snowboarding. There's the Whakapapa ski field in the middle of the North Island but it's over 5 hours drive from either Wellington or Auckland.

In the South Island there's plenty like Cadrona and Mt' Hutt, so you'd be better to base yourself in Christchurch or Dunedin.

As for beaches, Auckland has ample great beaches and bays. And there's a few rippers like Piha or Maraetai.
Wellington not so much, there are some quite nice bays around the city that are pretty good but they're a bit more exposed and much more crowded. You can take a 1.5+ hour drive to Paraparaumu/Raumati or Waikanai or even further north for some much better ones, or go to the South Wairarapa coast.
But for beaches Auckland *****-slaps Wellington.

Christchurch has better beaches than Wellington too...

NZBR Tours

Hi there,

- The ski fields will be closed when you are here (Feb to June)
- If you are in Auckland you can take a day tour to:
Bay of Islands (3 hours), Coromandel (2h 30m). Or drive for only 40 minutes to Piha (west cost).

I prefer Auckland because you have more options in terms of beaches or even for skiing: 4 hours from Auckland you have Mount Ruapehu.

Murphy

I live in a small town only 15 mins to Turoa Ski Fields at Mt Ruapehu. Season starts about end of June to End of October. Judging by todays weather, I'd say it has been snowing on the mountain

travel_stories

You may get a little bit of snow in June but you would need to travel to Mt Ruapehu in the central North Island. It is about half way between Wellington and Auckland. If you are in Auckland you can get a little skiing fun in at Snow Planet on East Coast Rd Silverddale.That is an indoor run.

Auckland is warmer so you would get more swimming in than in Wellington. Auckland probably has more variety of beaches although both cities have a lot of nice beaches, both within the city and on the outskirts. If I had to choose I would think Auckland was the better choice for getting in pleny of swimming.You have surf beaches on the West Coast and dozens of lovely beaches all around the city - North Shore - East Coast Bays, Auckland city Eastern Bays, and Howick area.

Animal Girl

yes i would stay in auckland, both auckland and wellington are a "pain in the butt" to get through with driving.
i don't know anything about the ski fields sorry but alot about beaches-
wellington beaches arn't the nicest, nor are beaches close to auckland but about an hour north of albany (auckland) is mangawhai beach which gets really crowded in summer, and has rocks. or you could go to Te Ari beach (near magawhai) which is a private beach but is lovely and doesn't get that crowded!

you could go to bay of islands or to cape reianga both have great beaches but nowhere near auckland unfortunatly.

hopefully this was helpful

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