Waitarere Domain Playground

If you’re heading to Waitārere Beach with kids in tow, the domain playground is worth a stop. The big slide is genuinely popular — kids will lap it repeatedly, which buys you a decent stretch of time to just sit in the sun. There’s a small skate park on site too, so older kids aren’t left standing around with nothing to do. The whole area is open and grassy with a little hill, the kind of low-key setup that actually works well for a beach day wind-down.