Quick Info
- Beach with some dunes by the road
- A long stretch, width varies with the tide. Fairly narrow within 2 hours of high tide.
- On the South Coast, so it may be wild in rough weather
- Plenty of parking on Lyall Parade, the road along the beach; around 30 spaces in the off-road carpark at the airport end
Table of Contents
Access for wheelchairs, and pushchairs
- There is a concrete ramp down from the carpark. It leads directly into rocks, then soft sand.
Facilities
- Rubbish bins: at most paths down to the beach, but at road level, not on the beach itself
- Toilets: yes — near the Surf Club and Maranui cafe, near Rua Street.
- Seats: no
- Lighting at night: no, but there are streetlights along Lyall Parade that ‘spill’ onto the beach.
Description
Lyall Bay beach is on Wellington’s South Coast, near the airport, in Lyall Bay, Wellington, New Zealand.
Lyall Bay Beach.
Lyall Bay beach is an official off-leash area, from the airport end to near the children’s playground about half way along the beach. Signs on the beach show where dogs may and may not be off-leash.
People and dogs love this beach. Although dogs could run up the paths to the road there is plenty of space for running, playing and swimming on the beach itself.
The May 2008 Dog Exercise Area Survey found:
In May 2008, a dog exercise area survey was distributed to registered dog owners. There were 3494 responses, 38.9% of registered owners. The purpose of the survey was to find out where Wellington city dog owners exercise their dogs and which designated dog exercise areas are used most/least. Lyall Bay beach was the most frequently mentioned exercise area with more than three times the responses received for the second most mentioned area — Ataturk Memorial. It was identified that the most popular exercise areas are those that have the features of safety, parking, rubbish bins, a water source and interest for the dog.
This area is mentioned on the City Council Exercise Areas — Maps web page, but there is no specific map:
From the steps in the seawall, opposite 30 Lyall Parade (200 metres from the eastern side of the children’s playground) to the airport end of beach.
There are many access points on to the beach from the road. Most are wooden ramps, often covered in sand; some are steps.
Space and conditions on the beach are affected by the tides and weather. The beach changes constantly — it may be full of seaweed (in parts), shingly, ‘clean’, have driftwood, dead fish (rare). On a hot and sunny day it may be full of people, while at other times it may be empty. You may meet dozens of dogs, or none.
Tides
Within a couple of hours of high tide space is a bit limited. Check the tides at Met Service Marine Forecasts. Or get the wonderful WeatherNZ application for your iPhone, as it gives you forecasts and tides, in a clear graphical view.
Water conditions
Lyall Bay is popular with surfers all year. On warm sunny days it is also popular with families. It’s considered a safe beach for swimming.
Terrain
- Extensive flat off-leash area
- Sandy
- Water: the sea.
Delights
- Beach and ocean views.
- Nearby cafes.
Dangers
- Sometimes warning signs alert to possible pollution from sewage.
Cautions
- Dogs could run out to the road.
- The beach accumulates litter and sometimes dead birds, fish or animals.
- People who use the beach often leave behind food scraps, and sometimes glass that may be broken.
Road access
Access by road or foot is easy, and there is plenty of parking.
See page 2 of this post for a photo album.
Location (see the map)
- Latitude: -41° 19′ 42.26″, (-41.328406)
- Longitude: +174° 48′ 2.86″ (174.800795)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
What a great site! I’m always looking for information on where I can take my little dog and it’s not easy to find. Lyall Bay Beach is good, but there can be many dogs there at busy times on weekends. One rather aggressive dog chased mine onto the road, so after that I only went at low tide so there was more beach for him to escape to.
That’s one of the things that bugs me in Wellington – there’s no absolutely *secure* place to take the dogs for a run. I wish we had at least one ‘doggy playground’ where it’s totally fenced in and the dogs can’t run off into danger.
We’re supposed to have our dogs under control at all times, but that’s just not realistic. We can *try*, but if a dog decides to take off at high speed, for whatever reason, I bet even an Olympic sprinter would have trouble catching up with it!