Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre — Attraction in North Island

I highly recommend visiting this place. It’s a beautiful and serene spot in a quiet coastal town. We have been visiting for more than 5 years to get away from busy Auckland life and enjoy bird watching, and recently we stayed at the Shore Bird Centre with our two kids, aged 5 and 18 months.

We had a wonderful experience. The accommodation isn’t fancy, but it offers a serene environment. Chelsea and Keith are incredibly kind and lovely people. They are very knowledgeable about birds and nature. Thanks to them, both of our kids now have a love for birds.

This is definitely a place where you can take your kids for a day trip or stay longer to explore the surroundings, go for a walk, biking, bird watching, and enjoy some device-free time in nature. You can book a guided tour to learn about shore birds and they have the best book collections both for adults and children in...

I’ve always wanted to see the Godwits. There’s just something about a tiny bird flying 12,000km across the world that is somewhat aweing.

Finally went out today to the Pūkorokoro Miranda Shorebird Sanctuary to watch the Bar-tailed Godwit roosting on the flats after their recent migration from Alaska to Aotearoa. A fabulous talk also from Dr Dan Ruthrauff an Alaskan Biologist who's spent his life studying these remarkable arctic migrants and discussing the ongoing mystery of how these birds achieve this incredible feat. Birders at the centre also set up some bird scopes that let us see these remarkable creatures zoomed up close.

Also spotted the wrybill, red knot, sharp-tailed sandpiper, pied stilt, oyster catcher, and many other birds. A great little gift shop too. I’d definitely recommend a visit, and supporting this sanctuary’s...

It was quite the bird centre, with an abundance of information on birds and a nice selection of bird books to purchase. It has a free entry and you can donate $5 of you choose to. The scenery, in the summer, is incredible, with the bluest waters. Best of all, it is quiet and calm, as it is off the main road onward to Thames and is far away from the huge traffic jams near the Kopu intersection onward to the east coast of Coromandel. Because of this very few people go anywhere near the west of the Firth of Thames. Bird watching during my visit were early in the morning or past 7pm, in short during high tide. This is something that all visitors need to...