More magical Dunedin Beaches – Long Beach and Purakaunui Inlet.  Only ten minutes drive from Port Chalmers or about 25 minutes from Dunedin City.

This amazing area offers wonderful scenery and many great walks. One of them is the Purakauniu – Potato point walk.

Take the Blueskin Road out of Port Chalmers, at the top of the hill turn right and follow the Purakaunui Road until the turn off to Osborne. There are look out points along these roads where you get spectacular views of the peninsular, the entrance to the Otago harbour, the inlet and coastline to Blueskin Bay.  From Osborne Road carry on around Purakaunui Inlet until you get to the parking area at the end. From here it’s about a ten minute walk along a sandy track to the beach. Walk along the beach to Potato Point and climb to the top for great views both ways, back to the inlet and across Blueskin Bay to the townships of Warrington and Waitati.

Visit the picturesque settlement of Purakaunui with, houses, holiday homes and boat sheds, sheltered in the inlet.

On the way or the way back to Purakaunui turn off the main road to Long Beach – this is a beautiful beach which stretches 2.4 kilometres between coastal rock formations. Rock-climbing cliffs and caves at the beach’s western end also attract many visitors.

Looking over Long Beach,  Potato Point and Purakaunui inlet to Blueskin Bay

Potato Point

 Purakaunui Inlet (on the left) and Blueskin Bay

 Purakaunui Inlet, the settlement of Purakaunui (left) and Osborne (right)

Mapoutahi Head is the ridge that separates Purakaunui and Blueskin Bays.  Blueskin Bay

 Long Beach, Purakaunui Inlet and Blueskin Bay

Long Beach

 Long beach settlement

Long beach

Rock climbing – Long Beach

A large cave at the end of the beach