Piha Beach | The Best Motorcycle Routes Around Auckland

Image: Outgoing route through Arakati Visitor Center | Google Maps Link

80 km | min. 2 hours
2.5/5 difficulty

+ Fully paved roads
+ Interesting curves
+ First-time visitor friendly(lots of speed suggestion signs before a tight curve)
+ Full cell signal

- Many dark shades on the road, ground can remain wet and be slippery
- Not a loop, you return roughly the same way you went
- Somewhat short

Piha village is one of our favorite afternoon get-away spots to go for a quick ride out the city, it’s very close to Auckland city and you can spend as little as two hours before you are back to the comfort of your room - if you ride non-stop, or you can easily spend the whole day there. 

You’ll get to see lots of mountains and forestry along the way, and finally, the beach and the shores. 

If you are not in a big hurry, we recommend routing your first waypoint to “Arataki Visitor Centre”. It’s more than just a boring tourist’s information center, it’s more like a mini museum with a small but interesting collection of exhibitions about the local geography and biomes for you to check out, there’s also a viewing platform that offers really great views - I’m not that much of a museum person, and even I was quite fascinated by the displays there!

After that, you can route your GPS straight to “Piha”, there are some sharp corners with inclines and declines, but nothing too challenging, there are helpful speed suggestion signs at every corner to give you a bit of an early warning. 

Beware that the road can get very slippery when it’s wet, and because of the vegetation & shades in that area - even if it’s sunny on the day you ride there, the ground could still be wet from the day before! Be very careful! 

Once you arrive in Piha village, you can grab a quick bite from Piha Store, before heading to the beach. There’s a Real Fruit Ice Cream truck that operates a bit further down the road where the parking area is, give them a try! 

The Lion Rock is a local icon - one you will definitely not miss! 

We also recommend driving all the way to the end of “North Piha Road” and coming back the same way to get the most riding out of this trip. 

When you are ready to come back to the city, consider routing it through Swanson or Henderson Valley, to extend the ride a little. But beware that if it’s a weekday afternoon, there might be some traffic jams on the highway.

Image: Come home route, through Swanson | Google Maps Link

Interested in renting a motorcycle in Auckland? Here at AVS Motorcycle Rental, we pride ourselves in flexibility and affordability, we are happy to offer one-day rentals, weekends, public holidays and off-hour pickup & drop-offs. Visit our website to book today!

All our New Zealand motorcycle route guides are 100% handwritten by a real human, with personal experiences & photos personally taken by us! No AI generated content! #NoAI