Walk Details
NZ Walking Routes > Auckland > Hauraki Gulf > Rangitoto Ships' Graveyard
Rangitoto Ships' Graveyard
- Location
Situated 35 minutes by ferry from Downtown Auckland.
Getting to the Rangitoto wrecks
1. Take the Wreck Bay Track, which is signposted from the Islington Bay Road. The track surface is uneven and boots or good walking shoes are needed.
2. The track finishes at Wreck Bay.
3. Boulder Bay is the next bay to the northwest/left.
There is an on-site information panel at Wreck Bay. The wrecks are best visited at low tide. The deeper wreckage just offshore attracts a variety of fish and other marine life and can be appreciated by snorkelling or scuba diving.
- Description
The coastlines of Hauraki Gulf islands were once used as dumping grounds for obsolete ships. With rapid changes in technology, ships quickly became outdated and uneconomic to maintain.
Wreck Bay and the adjacent coastline of Rangitoto is a graveyard for at least 13 ships that were dumped on the island between 1887 and 1947.
Over the years, the hulks have gradually deteriorated and been broken up by wave action. Some large pieces of wreckage remain on the foreshore, or in the intertidal zone, at Wreck Bay, Boulder Bay, and along the adjacent coastline.
- Amenities
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- Birds
- Historical
- Plant Life
- Toilets
- Tramping
- Source
- www.arc.govt.nz
- Discussion
- Start a discussion on this walk