Tauranga & the Mount
Shopping, long lunches and a city beach, an easy run up the coast.
Mauao from Pilot Bay · Photo: Alexander Klink, CC BY 3.0
When you want a bit of city after a few days of beach, Tauranga and Mount Maunganui are about 1 hour 25 minutes up the coast from Salt & Pepper. It’s the place for good food, shopping and a busy beach scene.
Before you go: Mauao
The walking tracks on Mauao (the Mount itself), the Mount Hot Pools and the beachside holiday park have been closed since the deadly landslides of January 2026. Tauranga City Council is working towards reopening some tracks over summer, but there’s no confirmed date yet. Check the council’s Mauao updates before you plan around the summit walk.
Shopping
- Maunganui Road, the Mount: the main street is lined with independent fashion boutiques, homeware, galleries and gift shops, with cafés every few doors.
- Downtown Tauranga: more boutiques and bigger-name stores around the CBD and the waterfront.
- Bayfair: the big shopping centre between the Mount and Papamoa, for when you need the chain stores.
Where to eat
At the Mount: The General for a made-from-scratch breakfast, Rice Rice Baby for Vietnamese, Fife Lane for steak and cocktails, and Solera, Alpino and Saltwater for a longer dinner. Finish with ice cream from Copenhagen Cones or Mount Made.
In Tauranga: The Strand runs along the harbour with bars, restaurants and cafés looking out over the water, and Harbourside is the pick for an upmarket waterfront meal.
Beaches
- Main Beach: the classic surf beach, with lifeguards in summer and surf lessons on the sand.
- Pilot Bay: the calm harbour side, good for swimming and paddleboarding (Mauao Adventures runs lessons), a sauna at The Sauna Project, and fish and chips at sunset.
On the water
Bay Explorer runs half-day dolphin and wildlife cruises, and Dolphin Seafaris offers swim-with-dolphins trips. In the evening, Waimarino runs glowworm kayak tours, a good one for older kids.
A good Tauranga day
Breakfast at the Mount, browse Maunganui Road, a swim at Pilot Bay, then a late lunch on The Strand before the drive home along the coast. For more ideas, see day trips from Ōhope.