Ōhope or the Mount?
Two great Bay of Plenty beaches, two very different holidays.
Mount Maunganui and Ōhope are about 1 hour 25 minutes apart on the same coast, and they’re both brilliant. But they suit different people. Here’s an honest comparison from people who own beach houses in one of them.
Pace
The Mount is a busy beach city: apartments along the front, a buzzing main street, traffic and plenty of people, especially in summer. Ōhope is a beach town: one main road, houses facing the sand, and a beach long enough that you can still find space on a January afternoon. If you want to switch off, Ōhope wins.
The beach
The Mount’s Main Beach is a classic surf beach with the mountain at one end and the calm water of Pilot Bay on the other side. Ōhope Beach runs for about 11 km, with Ōhiwa Harbour behind the sandspit for calm-water swimming and kayaking. Ōhope was voted New Zealand’s Most Loved Beach in the AA’s 2014 vote and won Best Family Beach in the NZ Herald awards three years running. Call it a draw on quality; Ōhope wins on space.
Food, shopping and nightlife
No contest: the Mount. Maunganui Road is lined with boutiques, cafés, restaurants and bars, and Tauranga’s waterfront is next door. Ōhope has a handful of cafés and takeaways, with Whakatāne 15 minutes away for more choice. Our tip: do one big day out to the Mount, then eat in on the deck the rest of the week. See our Tauranga and the Mount day trip and where to eat in Ōhope and Whakatāne.
Walks
Mauao, the Mount itself, is one of New Zealand’s best-known short walks, but its tracks have been closed since the landslides of January 2026, with the council working towards a staged reopening. Ōhope has Ngā Tapuwae o Toi, the clifftop trail to Whakatāne, and the Ōhope Scenic Reserve on the doorstep. See our Ōhope walks guide.
Families
Both are good. The Mount has more to do in town; Ōhope has more room on the sand, the harbour for little ones, and less traffic to worry about. See Ōhope with kids.
Value and space
Beachfront at the Mount usually means an apartment. In Ōhope you can have a whole four-bedroom house across the road from the beach, or two of them side by side for a group of 16. See group accommodation.
The verdict
If your ideal holiday is shopping, dining out and a busy beach scene, stay at the Mount. If it’s long beach walks, swims, the BBQ and a quiet night, stay in Ōhope, and do the Mount as a day trip. That’s what we’d do.