MERCER BAY
LOOP AND BEACH

In this report I will tell you about the Mercer Bay Loop and its branch that leads down to Mercer Bay beach. The first part of the route is an extremely simple and accessible track that will suit people of varying fitness. The second part is more of a small adventure, for those who want to add some difficulty and a challenge.

It was hard for me to give this route a single overall rating, because its two parts differ so much in difficulty. The Mercer Bay Loop is an easy track, while the descent to the beach is closer to the hard routes. So I set the overall rating as hard, so as not to mislead anyone. I would not want someone to see an easy rating and decide that the descent to the beach would be just as simple.

I have walked these tracks many times, in different seasons and in all sorts of weather. So the report brings together photos taken in different conditions and on different cameras.

Both routes start from the Mercer Bay Loop Track car park. From here you can go two ways: looking at the map, either north or south. Since the route is a loop, there is no big difference, and both trails end up leading to the same point. Still, I recommend starting from the northern side.

At the start and end of the track you will see small gates with footwear cleaning stations. Such stations are common around Auckland. They help prevent the spread of kauri dieback disease, which is a serious threat to these unique trees.

The track starts up high, so first you have to go down and then climb back up. Luckily the climb is not too hard. Within the first hundred metres from the start there is a lovely viewpoint over Piha beach.

From there the way is an easy descent along a good, well-kept trail. Part of it is covered by trees that give a little shade, which you will be grateful for on a hot summer day. On the right, the whole way, the Tasman Sea stretches out to the horizon, and you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks 250 metres below.

Five hundred metres after the start another viewpoint appears, this time over Karekare beach and the endless shore that runs almost ten kilometres into the distance, to Whatipu beach. And right below us you can see sharp sheer cliffs and Te Ahua o Hinerangi, the point we will reach a little later.

Next you go down to a fork. One way goes straight ahead and right, to the viewpoint on Te Ahua Point. The way to the left leads back to the car park, to the Comans Track, and to our secret route.

Either way, first you should head to Te Ahua Point. A couple of metres past the fork there is another viewpoint, from which you get a good view of the cliff on the right, where we just were, and the beach below.

It is another 150 metres to the final point. The viewpoint is not very big; to the left you can see Mercer Bay and Karekare, just from a slightly different angle, and to the right huge sheer cliffs.

Just before the viewpoint, on the right of the trail, there are small side paths that let you go up to the edge of the cliff. Those afraid of heights may feel uneasy: you stand right on the edge of a sheer drop.

At this point the easy, main version of the route can be considered finished. From here you can go back the same way you came, or by another, slightly shorter one, but without the scenic sea views. For that you return to the fork we were at earlier, follow the trail another 60 metres to another fork, and turn left. In less than a kilometre and 100 metres of climbing you will be back at the car park.

At an unhurried pace, with stops at every viewpoint, this route takes about an hour and a half to two hours.

Now it is time to tell you about the more interesting, but fairly hard, part of this route. When we were standing on Te Ahua o Hinerangi, down to the left we could see Mercer Bay beach. We will need to descend straight down to it.

There is no proper trail there; you have to descend a very steep and, in places, dangerous slope, but the reward is a whole beach to yourself and views of giant vertical cliffs. And if you catch a low tide, you can walk over to the caves. So if you plan to do this route, be sure to check what time the lowest tide is, so you can see everything. It is worth it.

Let us go back in our minds to the last fork, and instead of heading up to the car park, we go right. We need to follow the trail that is marked in Organic Maps as the Ahu Ahu Track and the Comans Track. This part of the trail is just as good as before. On the right a view of Mercer Bay opens up.

Our task on this stretch of trail is to find the inconspicuous descent. It is about 200 metres from the fork. Once the trail starts to rise slightly, keep an eye on the right-hand side. There you will see pale, rain-washed patches of earth and stones. This is exactly where the descent you want begins. Below is what the spot looks like.

I will warn you again: this is an unofficial trail, and for an unprepared person the descent can be hard and, in places, dangerous, because it is very steep. Not vertical, but in places ropes are rigged up so you can hold on to them. If you compare the difficulty of the Mercer Bay Loop itself and this descent, the first is a 1 out of 10, and this is a 10 out of 10. On top of that, if you are afraid of heights, the descent can be uncomfortable. There is even a sign to that effect hanging there, and on the whole it is justified.

That said, if you are in good shape, do not rush, and know how to hold a rope and position your weight, this descent will not be a problem. On the whole descent there is no section where you are so vertical that any mistake would cost you your life. So the strategy here is simple: do not hurry, tug and test the ropes before you put your full weight on them, and watch where you put your feet.

I went down there with friends who do not hike as actively as I do, and they made it down without any trouble, taking their time. But I did not bring my mum on this one. I would not go here with children either, and would stick to just the trail I described at the start.

On the way down, beautiful views of the beach below open up.

The descent itself is only about 200 metres long, but over that distance you drop from 180 metres to zero. On the elevation profile next to the map you can clearly see how steep it is.

For the whole descent the trail is almost always easy to see, even though few people walk it. In one spot there is a deceptive feeling that the descent goes right, along the rocks, but really you need to keep left. I do not have an exact point or a photo of this place, but just keep in mind that if you cannot see any ropes and the drop of the cliffs becomes too steep and uncomfortable, you may have gone the wrong way and it is better to go back and look around.

You can allow forty minutes to an hour for the descent.

And here you are on the beach, and, I hope, at low tide, as I advised. You need to walk along the beach towards the sea, keeping closer to the cliffs on the right. The beach is very beautiful, deserted, and there is almost never anyone there.

When you reach the end of the beach, on the right there are huge sheer cliffs with caves inside them.

We want the leftmost cave. It goes right through, but the exit opening is up at the top of the hill, and you get the feeling that you are at the bottom of an enormous well.

On the beach itself you can rest, sit down, and have a swim. As I already wrote in the report on Whites Beach, you need to be careful here because of the dangerous currents and strong waves that occur on the west coast.

If you feel like it, you can walk to the other end of the beach, where there are several sea stacks of curious shapes.

Beyond the cliffs is Karekare beach, and in theory, at a very low tide, you can get to that beach from here. I have been there a couple of times at low tide, and the water was still high. But I have read in one report that it is possible, and in that case there would be no need to descend from the Mercer Bay Loop. Below is a photo from the Karekare side, where you can see the water level there. From the photo you can see that it is not at all comfortable for crossing to the neighbouring beach.

Having wandered around the beach and the caves, you can head back up. The good news: the climb usually feels easier than the descent. Yes, physically it takes more effort, but you do not have to keep searching for where to put your foot. For most of the way you can simply pull yourself up on the ropes and move confidently upward. In terms of time the climb takes about as long as the descent, and sometimes it even works out a little faster.

After that you go back to the fork I wrote about earlier, and return to the car park.

So this is a report from a single place, in which I tried to combine two routes at once: an easy one and a hard one. It is one of those places you absolutely should visit if you live in Auckland. The Mercer Bay Loop itself I recommend to everyone without exception: just an hour and a half of unhurried walking, yet for the beauty of its views it easily rivals far longer tracks.

But about the descent to the beach, I advise you to think hard. It is an unofficial trail, no one maintains it, the ropes have been hanging there since who knows when, and after rain everything becomes noticeably harder. Soberly assess your fitness, do not go there alone or for the first time, check the forecast and the tide time, and do not rush. If halfway down you realise you are uncomfortable, there is nothing wrong with turning back: the Mercer Bay Loop is wonderful in itself, even without this beach.