Piha @ New Zealand?

Question

me and my friends will go to Piha this Friday. We won't stay long, propably 3 to 4 hours. What do you recommend us to do? Can we take some black sand as a souvenir?

Answer 1

course you can take sand, so long as your not planning to take it out of the country, you might get pulled up in the airport. i wouldnt recommend swimming it can be pretty dangerous, its mostly used by surfers. take some drinks and maybe food. BUILD A BLACK SAND CASTLE

correction of above answer: maori*

Answer 2

Piha is beautiful, there must be somewhere to eat there, haven't been in years, there is a lot of black sand so I think if you took a little nobody would notice, but you better find out whether or not it would be a taboo thing to do from the local Mouri population, it has great surfing but don't go in if you are not a good swimmer.  I would suggest take your cameras and some cold drinks and have a good fish and chip lunch

Answer 3

Take some points from all the answers above but do enjoy yourself nonetheless and...take care! Piha waters are dangerous so abide by the life-guard's rules.

Answer 4

Go for a swim, nearly drown, get saved by the life gaurds if they are on, then climb Lion Rock and jump off. Quite alot to pack into 3-4 hours, but it is definately do-able!! Have fun.

Answer 5

Piha is a beautiful beach but can be very dangerous if you are inexperienced. There is one cafe at the beach but it would probably be overpriced. The conditions at Piha are sometimes choppy and windy but is good for surfing (so I've been told). I suggest that you just but some fish and chips before heading down, to eat down at the beach. Then you guys can have a swim or whatever. My guess is that it would probably be almost empty except for you, so you have the ntire beach to yourselves.

As for taking black sand, go for it. As far as I know it isn't culturally offensive to the Maori. The reason why the sand in beaches in West Auckland are black is because of their high iron content. If you are from overseas, you won't have much trouble getting the sand out of the country (if its a small amount, say test-tube size) but if your customs control in your country may not allow it.