Waverley Beach is WAY off the beaten track…some maps don’t even list the town of Waverley. Surprisingly, even in Waverley, the sign doesn’t point you to the “beach,” but rather says “camping/cemetery/golf.” What this beach does have, besides a golf cemetery, is a fabulously scenic sea-arch and a bunch of other neat coves, caves and features to explore. Sometimes you’ll see a photo of this arch in Taranaki’s tourist literature, but they rarely mention where this arch is located.
Waverley Beach is a polished blacksand beach backed by sheer grey/ orange cliffs—sort of like a mini Tongaporutu. Most of the beach disappears at high tide, but that’s when the waves bash the cliffs for a marvelous show of spray. Then, when the tide’s out, exploring is in. To the south are long sea caves, some with skylight holes. The north side of the beach is driftwood-a-rama with some puzzling tree stumps that Mt. Taranaki entombed under heaps of ash clay (Puke Ariki Museum in New Plymouth has a display detailing this “lost forest”.)
Hurry over to see the arch—it collapses little by little every year and won’t be with us for long!
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you have to get the tides