Ninety Mile Beach · Passable Only at Low Tide

Ninety Mile Beach is in fact a little over sixty miles long: a road between the sea and the dunes, drivable at low tide, covered end to end at high tide, with shell layers and the remains of old wrecks under the sand.

At the northern end of the district there is quicksand and “sand that swallows”, and officials advise against walking it alone; whales have stranded and ships have gone down here many times, and the history of the rescue service begins at this beach.

Locals say you should bring two things here: a tide table and someone else’s car.

Natural Mysteries / Northland · New Zealand / Time immemorial