Golden Bay

Golden Bay was visited by Abel Tasman in 1642, but a skirmish with local Maoris resulted in the death of four of Tasman's crew, so he marked the area as Murderers Bay on his map and never put to shore there.

Golden Bay lies at the mouth of the Takaka River and is reached by a mountainous road over the Takaka Hill from Motueka. Golden Bay has become known of as an “alternate lifestyle” centre, especially in the 1970s due to the availability of cheap smallholdings, this today still being the case and tourists generally come to this area mostly for its safe swimming beaches. It is also one of the main access points for the coastal track through the Abel Tasman National Park.