Stroll on the sea wall and discover the history of Tahuna Beach
According to historical records of the Nelson Provincial Library, the beach section of today was part of the main channel in the Waimea Inlet of Tasman Bay. European settlers, who arrived in 1842, used it to access the quarantine yards where livestock was unloaded. In the 1870s, a new channel was formed after the Waimea bank breached, and by 1882, this part of the channel was now dry at low tide, thus inspiring an idea for a coastal recreation reserve, or a beach, as people prefer to call it today. Construction on the sea wall began 10 years later in 1892. Today, visitors can walk and cycle along the wall that runs parallel to State Highway 60, a main road in the region. This walkway begins at the edge of Tahuna Beach, with a statue of Dutch explorer and navigator Abel Janszoon Tasman. According to historical records of the New Zealand Government, Tasman is recognised as the first European to discover New Zealand. He also recorded the first interaction with the Māori in Golden Bay (north of Tahuna) in 1642.