Cox’s Bay Reserve

Follow the brown pebble road, follow the brown pebble road, following, following, following, following, follow the brown pebble road. While this path may not lead you to the Emerald City, it will get you to Cox’s Bay waterfront. If you time your walk right, you should catch a beautiful sunset. West Coast is the best coast. whooo!
Meander along the path through green, open spaces filled with large shade trees. There are a few benches to have a sit down while listening to birds and the water flowing along both sides of the reserve. Continue walking across the bridge through the mangroves. If you can make it during high tide you’ll avoid the stale smell of slow moving water. It’s not awful.but.yeah it ain’t roses and jasmine either.
Once you’ve passed the mangrove, what appears next is a vast open field. The area is big enough to have several groups of dogs frolicking and rolling around in the grass. Humans also have enough space to have numerous games of Frisbee, Soccer, Baseball (er Rugby?) without ruining into each other. So bring your toys and your dogs and have some fun.
Don’t forget to walk to the waterfront. It’s unfortunate one can not swim there, that would be awesome. Nevertheless there is a bench for you to have a rest, while watching the day pass away with the Sun.

Absolutely Stunning.
I came into the reserve from the obscure Richmond Road entrance. It was totally breathtakingly beautiful.
On a sunny day, this would be a beautiful place to have a family picnic.
I’m used to city life, so visiting Cox’s Bay Reserve was a very peaceful experience. I’ll definitely be back.

There is always something going on at Cox’s Bay Reserve, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever come across a local park that gets so much use from members of the community.
On Monday and Tuesday nights over summer you’ll find touch games being played from early evening onwards, on Wednesday there’ll be some cricket and at any time you’ll find bootcamp sessions, walkers, dog runners, young families and everything in between.
Parking is good, and when the tide’s in the view across the bay is pretty special.
Come on down for a stroll around the park and some fish n chips in the late summer sun.

As a child I spent countless hours playing in Cox’s Bay Reserve. The park is huge, with walkways, off-​leash dog areas, playgrounds, rugby fields and even paddocks for cattle to graze — you wouldn’t expect to find a place like it in such a central area. But that’s what makes it so great — it’s a little peaceful world within busy central Auckland.
Take your dog for a walk, your kids for a bike ride, pack a picnic with your friends or just lay in the sun with a good book and enjoy some time out in this lovely park.
With multiple entrances, you can access Cox’s Bay from Ponsonby or Westmere and there is plenty of on-​street parking, as well as a designated carpark by the rugby fields and playground.

Cox’s Bay Reserve has everything a good park needs. Firstly, it’s got grass. And none of that itchy stuff, this is nice grass. No rash in sight. Secondly, it’s big. This is awesome because it means there is always so much going on. In one corner there’s a bootcamp, in another, a game of touch. There are joggers and yoga buffs, dogs chasing tennis balls and kids squealing with joy. Located in the up and coming suburb of Westmere, Cox’s Bay Reserve is close enough to the city to be accessible, but further enough out to be peaceful and provide a wee bit of escapism. Pop down super early to join the other exercise buffs, take the kids to the playground, or grab an ice cream from a nearby dairy and people watch. Cox’s Bay Reserve is a nice wee spot, anytime of the day.