Goat Island Reserve

This weekend just gone, my boyfriend and I headed up to Sandpsit for the weekend. On Saturday morning, after grabbing some food from The Matakana Markets, we headed out to Goat Island.
I love this area because it’s such an easy drive from Auckland, just 45 minutes without traffic. The perfect day trip, and you feel like you’re forever from the city.
It was an amazing day, and was pretty busy when we turned up. But to start, we did the Coastal Walkway which was awesome.
By the time we got back we were very ready for a swim. You can hire snorkel gear and go diving here, but we bought our own gear. So wetsuits on (the water is a bit cold) and in we got. The vis wasn’t great but it was still lovely to be in the water. We saw a few big snapper and other fish.
It’s such a nice vibe out here, really chill and people just having a good time. There is plenty of accommodation around the area, plus a capmsite that looks over the reserve/

One of my favourite daytrips out of the city is a visit to Goat Island, in the small town of Leigh. Goat Island offers plenty of fine attractions to keep you entertained for the day, and if the weather plays along, then you can have a great day out. We normally pack the cricket kit, the petanque balls, and our snorkeling gear, plus all the normal beach day stuff.
The Goat Island area offers good grass areas, an excellent golden beach and if you’re not too scared of cold water, great snorkeling. Now others like to scuba, but I love to snorkel, and the fish offer a display of nature at her best. Blue, yellow or silver, they’re all gorgeous, and seeing the big predators is worth freezing your bum off.

The golden beach at Goat Island is the place I completed one of my bucket list items: to skinny dip. It all happened on a sunny afternoon when my boyfriend and I decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Auckland.
We got to Goat Island beach, parked the car and sat on one of the grass patches overlooking the beach and other spectacular views while we munched on some home made goodies. After lunch we decided to walk around, we had no plans to swim as we had dinner plans later on that evening.
We walked in the water and soon found ourselves in another area where there is a fountain, I stripped down to my under garments and went in the water. The water was clear, had that green marine colour to it. It wasn’t too cold and it felt so good against my skin. Next thing you know I had one less item on my bucket list.
Goat island the perfect place to shorten your bucket list, swim, have a picnic and snorkel.

Once upon a New Year’s Day, I road tripped up to Goat Island with some friends. Wow! The water is crystal clear and yes, perfect for snorkel fiends. It was jam packed this particular day, so there weren’t many fish about. I’d recommend going off season as too many people = frightened fish.
The water is icy, icy cold, even in 25 degree heat, due to the large rock face shielding the reserve. Wet suits or a handy spot in the sun to dry off is recommended. I’ve been more impressed with Australian waters for snorkelling, but Goat Island is the closest thing you’ll get here in NZ.
Swimming between the island and back is loads of fun, and the environment is very safe due to its temperature. (Sharks like warmer water. Woo hoo) Take a day off and enjoy your adventure checking out the NZ Ocean.

Don’t expect snorkeling at Goat Island Marine reserve to be quite like your last trip to Fiji, but it’s just as fun. Firstly the fish are BIGGER, much much bigger. You won’t be surrounded by Nemo and friends, instead you’ll be stalked by big Daddy snapper (one in particular must be around 150 years old). The Snapper certainly look a lot bigger in the water than at the end of your fishing line, but it’s brilliant to see them chilling out in their natural environment. Secondly it’s a lot colder. If you want to make the most of it (and not get out after 10mins) I would recommend a wetsuit. If you don’t have they are easily hired at Goat Island Dive for $ 15 per day. Snorkeling at Goat Island is a really cool thing to do, and you don’t have to go very far into the water before you see the fish. On a good day the clarity is amazing and it’s usually pretty sheltered from the wind.