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Top 10 Remarkable Facts about Farewell Spit

Farewell Spit, known as Onetahua in Maori, is located at the northern end of the Golden Bay, in the South Island of New Zealand. This narrow sand spit runs in an eastward direction from Cape Farewell, the island’s northernmost point. Legally protected as a Nature Reserve, the Farewell Spit is designated as a Ramsar wetland site.

It is also an East Asian, Australasian Flyway Shorebird Network site. The Farewell Spit is a wildlife and seabird reserve. It is managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation. The Spit is closed to the public except for a small area at its base. The public is only allowed into the Spit during organised tours.

Below are ten amazing facts about the Farewell Spit.

1. In Maori, the name can be translated to heaped-up sand

Golden Bay / Mohua near the northern tip of the South Island. It is protected in the north by Farewell Spit. Photo by New Zealand location map/

Onetahua is the spit’s name which translates to heaped-up sand. Abel Tasman was the first European to see the spit. He saw it in 1642 and named it Sand Duining Hoeck.

In 1770, Captain James Cook also a European, saw the spit and added the peninsula to his map. Captain Cook named the nearby Cape Farewell, a name which stuck with the early European settlers. The name was later shortened to what it is today.

2. It is New Zealand’s longest sandpit

The spit runs from west to east in New Zealand forming the northern side of Golden Bay. With 25 kilometres of stable land and a mobile spit that’s 5 kilometres long, it is the longest spit in New Zealand. The granites and rocks in the Southern Alps are eroded and help form the coloured quartz sands.

3. It consists of a northern and a southern interacting system

Farewell Spit dunes. Photo by James Shook/

It comprises 11,388 hectares (28,140 acres). Of these, about 1,961 hectares (4,850 acres) are above mean high water. The area has 9,427 hectares (23,290 acres) of an intertidal zone.

This sand spit consists of a northern and southern interacting system. The southern side is separated by shallow lakes which have fairly stable sand masses. They are also older than those on the northern side.

The northern side with the recent dunes experiences more erosion due to the wind. Known as barchans, the dunes are formed due to the influence of the wind which is mainly from the west.

4. The Southern side is a feeding ground for seabirds

Volunteers attempt to cool beached pilot whales. Photo by Chagai/

The tide on the northern side can recede up to seven kilometres. The water leaves a mud-flat stretch of 80 square kilometres. This traps whales leaving them stranded but is also a feeding ground for several seabirds.

5. The spit is classified as a Nature Reserve

Classified as a Nature Reserve under the 1977 s20 Reserve s Act, the spit is protected by the crown. In 1938, the area was initially established as a Flora and Fauna Reserve. It was later designated as a Nature Reserve in 1980 and the adjacent inter-tidal zone became a Wildlife Sanctuary.

In 1976, under the Ramsar Convention, the spit was selected as a Wetland area of International Importance. It became an East Asian–Australasian Flyway Shorebird Network Site for migratory birds in 2000. This was to recognize the importance of migratory birds.

6. The spit is a haven for several internationally important birds

Double-banded Plover (Charadrius bicinctus) breeding plumage. Photo by JJ Harrison/

The spit is a haven for several birds. It provides a habitat for internationally important birds such as the banded dotterel, ruddy turnstone, red knot, bar-tailed godwit and the endemic South Island pied oystercatchers.

A colony of Australasian gannets inhabits the dunes at the end of the spit. A huge population of New Zealand’s moulting black swans inhabit the tidal flats of the eelgrass (Zostera) beds.

7. More than 8,500 birds are at the spit at any time of the year

Bar-tailed Godwit in breeding plumage. Photo by Andreas Trepte/

The Nelson City and the Tasman District councils published a shorebirds study in 2013. The study stated that 14 to 22 per cent of New Zealand’s birds were in the estuary. In one year, the birds at the spit were between 45 to 66 per cent.

During the summer, there is an average of 10.2 per cent of the birds at the spit which is about 29,000 shorebirds. In the winter month of June and the Spring month of November, there are about 8,500 and 20,000 birds respectively.   

Migratory birds such as the bar-tailed godwits make up 93 per cent of the birds in spring. On average, 9.1 per cent which is about 11,872 godwits are funded at the spit during summer.

8. In the 1850s, the area was damaged by grazing animals

In the 1850s, Farewell Spit was damaged by grazing animals and fires. Despite the area being given protection in 1938, there were cows in the area and in the 1970s, 258 were removed.

There are still several pigs at Farewell Spit as of 2021. They are a threat to nesting birds. There is however a joint initiative between the Tasman Environmental Trust, HealthPost Nature Trust, and Manawhenua ki Mohua to safeguard the area.

9. The spit has a lighthouse that was first lit in June 1870

Farewell Spit lighthouse and accommodation houses. Photo by Pseudopanax/

Several ships were shipwrecked at the spit and a lighthouse was first lit in June 1870. The wood used to construct the lighthouse decayed and was replaced by a steel structure. Constructed in 1897, this is still New Zealand’s only steel latticework lighthouse to date.

The spit is only 30 metres (98 feet) above sea level. The lighthouse, therefore, has to be taller than usual. At 27 metres high, the light can be seen from about 35 kilometres. In 1954, the initial oil-burning lamp became a 1000-watt electric lamp.

In 1984, the last lighthouse keeper was withdrawn and the light became fully automated. In 1999, the initial lamp was converted to a 50-watt tungsten halogen bulb rotation beacon.

10. There were several shipwrecks at the spit due to the shallow water

Schooner Valmarie aground on Farewell Spit. Photo by John Oxley Library/

The shallow water at the spit caused several ships to be grounded on the sand at the spit. The occurrence was usually due to adverse weather or error.

Some of the ships that ran aground at the Spit include the Queen Bee in 1877 and the SS Port Kembla. In 1917, the Kembla was sunk by a mine 17 km off the spit.