Breaker Bay is a suburb on the south east coast of

Wellington City Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, on the

Miramar Peninsula Te Motu Kairangi / Miramar Peninsula is a large peninsula on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was ...

. The suburb contains a 600 m wide bay with the same name.

Geography

Breaker Bay is a thin strip of land along the southeast coast of

. The suburb includes five bays; the largest, Breaker Bay, is at its north, with the other bays going south being Eve Bay, Flax Bay, Reef Bay, and Palmer Bay. It is part of the western shore of the

Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...

entrance. The suburb of Breaker Bay is named after its largest bay. F. L. Irvine-Smith wrote in 1948, "South from Seatoun is Breaker Bay (by no means a misnomer) reached by the Pass of Branda, named from the well-known pass at the head of Loch Awa ic. The Pass of Branda forms the northern entrance to the suburb. The area is known for southerly gales as it is exposed to

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

. Waves would often crash over the road in winter, and intense storms put pressure on the coastline which is facing erosion. Storms have rendered its only road unusable and damaged, such as in 2013. In 2016, construction started on a new seawall to protect houses and the road and was expected to be finished by April 2017. Another storm in 2021 was declared a state of emergency. Around 140 homes in Breaker Bay were evacuated, the road was closed for around a day, and debris spread across the road needed to be cleared. The Wahine disaster, a 1968 ferry sinking in which 53 people died, occurred near Breaker Bay. The ferry ended up on Barrett Reef, a feature in the water just off of the bay. Stuart Young, a Breaker Bay resident, was the first to raise the alarm. Some residents attempted to set out in small boats to assist but were forced back by the waves. The Wahine Memorial Park in the suburb commemorates the event; the park is near where survivors reached the shore and includes a bow thruster from the ship. The Eastern Walkway runs along the top of the bay and has views of the area. Dolphins and

orca The orca (''Orcinus orca''), or killer whale, is a toothed whale and the largest member of the oceanic dolphin family. The only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'', it is recognizable by its black-and-white-patterned body. A cosmopol ...

are regularly sighted from the suburb. Penguins nest in the area and there are "penguin crossing" signs on the road.

Facilities and transport

Breaker Bay is known for being a clothing optional beach, which is shared by naturists and clothed people alike. New Zealand has no official nude beaches, as public nudity is legal on any beach where it is "known to occur". Families tend to congregate at the end nearest to the road and pass the hole in the rock (to the middle of the beach). Breaker Bay has only a single road, Breaker Bay Road, which runs close to the coast through the suburb. The suburb is served by a commuter bus (No 30x) running on weekdays to the city in the mornings and to the beach in the afternoons. There are no public toilets in Breaker Bay. As of 2014, residents were pushing for the council to install toilets, saying that visitors were defecating in bushes, but the council said it had assessed the area and there was not enough demand for toilets there.

Demographics

Breaker Bay is not a statistical area for the purpose of New Zealand censuses. It mainly sits in the

Seatoun Seatoun is an eastern suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand and lies on the east coast of the Miramar Peninsula, close to the entrance to Wellington Harbour (Port Nicholson). Geography The suburb sits on an exposed promonto ...

statistical area, and partly in the Rongotai statistical area.

External links

Breaker Bay and Moa Point Progressive Association
(BBMPPA)

Gallery

File:BreakerB7.jpg, A ferry arriving in Wellington from Picton, seen from Breaker Bay. File:Breaker Bay, Wellington seen from Ataturk Memorial Park.jpg, Breaker Bay seen from Ataturk Memorial Park. File:BreakerB5.jpg File:BreakerB6.jpg File:BreakerB8.jpg File:BreakerB9.jpg File:Breaker Bay.jpg File:Breaker Bay Hall.jpg

References

External links

{{Suburbs of Wellington City Bays of the Wellington Region Nude beaches Suburbs of Wellington City Cook Strait Beaches of the Wellington Region Populated places around the Wellington Harbour Naturism in New Zealand