New Zealand's most famous surf beach
Piha is New Zealand's most famous surf beach. Situated on the west coast of the North Island, 40 kilometers from the city of Auckland, this black iron-sand beach has a reputation for awesome surf. After competing here against a New Zealand surf team in 1950, an Australian surf life saving team said they never wanted to compete on the beach again...and they haven't. When Uncle Toby's Iron Man contest was held at Piha in 1997, canoes were snapped in two.
Piha was the birthplace of board riding in New Zealand, introduced by two Californian lifeguards in 1956. The first surf boat in New Zealand was owned by the Piha Surf Life Saving Club. In the 1930s, club members developed the 'teardrop' surf ski as a rescue craft. In the 1970s Piha was instrumental in inaugurating the first helicopter surf rescue service in New Zealand.
