Ask anyone in Nelson where the locals take the kids on a hot Saturday and a fair few will give you the same answer: Rabbit Island. Moturoa, to use its proper name, is a long sandy island in the Waimea Estuary a short drive from Richmond, with a warm, safe beach, free barbecues and miles of room to spread out. It is the closest thing the region has to a communal back yard — and it is free, which for a camping holiday is exactly the right price. Here is how to make a day of it, and the handful of catches worth knowing before you go.
Where It Is and How to Get There
A Short Drive From Almost Anywhere
Moturoa / Rabbit Island sits in the Waimea Estuary at the head of Tasman Bay, about 15 minutes from Richmond and 25 from central Nelson. Despite the name, you do not need a boat — a causeway and bridge carry you straight across the tidal flats onto the island, and the drive over is half the charm, with the estuary spreading out on both sides and wading birds picking through the shallows.
The one thing that trips people up is the road network once you are on the island. Several access roads dissect the reserve and they are not signposted in a way that helps a first-timer. Do not navigate by road name; navigate by the picnic-area names and the foreshore signs marking the beach access points. Pick a spot, remember which one it was, and you will find your car again at the end of the day.
Coming In by Bike
Plenty of people never bring a car at all. Rabbit Island is strung onto Tasman’s Great Taste Trail, the region’s flagship cycle network, and the riding through the island is flat, shaded and easy — ideal for families and anyone who rates a morning-tea stop over heroics.
The clever bit is the Mapua ferry, a little cycle ferry that crosses the narrow channel from Mapua wharf to the island and saves a long road detour. It runs from roughly the end of September to the end of May, so it is a warmer-months proposition; outside that window you are driving. If you are riding the Great Taste Trail end to end, the ferry is one of its small highlights, and it drops you a short pedal from the beach with coffee at Mapua on either side.
The Beach Itself
Long, Safe and Warm
The beach is the reason everyone comes. It runs for kilometres along the Tasman Bay side of the island — long enough that even on a busy day you can walk five minutes and have sand to yourself. The water is shallow, sheltered and genuinely warm by South Island standards, which is why families with small kids treat it as a default.
There are no big surf hazards here; it is a wade-in, paddle-about, build-a-sandcastle sort of beach rather than a board-riding one. The flip side of all that gentle shelter is that it is tidal, and the sea goes a long way out, so at low tide the swim becomes more of a walk. Check the tide before you load the car if a proper swim is the whole point of the trip.
Pick Your Spot
Behind the sand is a wide grassed reserve dotted with picnic tables and free barbecues, and on a fine summer day it fills up — the main beach can see anywhere from 500 to 1000 people across the Christmas-New Year stretch. That sounds like a crowd, and the car parks near the popular access points do get full, but the beach is so long that it thins out fast the moment you walk.
Our advice: drive past the first busy car park, find a quieter access point further along, and you will swap a packed lawn for an empty one. Bring everything you need, because there are no shops on the island — the nearest food is back at Mapua wharf, a few minutes away.
Beyond the Sand
Biking the Forest
Most of the island’s interior is commercial pine plantation, and woven through it is a network of flat forest tracks popular with cyclists and walkers. It is not technical mountain biking — it is gentle, gravelly, kid-friendly riding under the trees, and a good option when the wind is up and the beach has lost its appeal.
The thing to keep in mind is that this is a working forest. When harvesting is underway, logging trucks use the roads constantly and sections of track close at short notice. Closures are signposted; take them seriously, keep to the marked trails, and be especially careful at intersections, where a truck and a toddler on a balance bike are a bad combination.
Birds, Estuary and a Bit of History
The estuary side of the island is quieter and well worth a wander. The Waimea Estuary is a rich feeding ground for wading birds — at the right tide you will likely spot bar-tailed godwits, pied stilts and variable oystercatchers working the shell banks.
The island also carries a deep human history that is easy to miss. Maori settled and used Moturoa for centuries as a mahinga kai, a food-gathering place, with a flax garden, waka landings and wahi tapu across the island; a three-metre totara waka was uncovered here in 1989. The rabbits that gave the island its English name arrived with European settlers in the 1840s, bred for sale until a gamekeeper was appointed to stop the poaching. Since 2014 the place officially carries both names: Moturoa / Rabbit Island.
The Practical Catches (Before You Go)
The Gate Closes at Dusk
Here is the catch that catches people every summer: Rabbit Island is locked overnight. It is a monitored day-use reserve, open during daylight only, and the gates near the entrance are shut shortly after dark. The exact locking time changes through the year with the daylight, and it is posted on the large signs at the gate and the reserve entrance — read them on the way in, not at dusk when you are trying to leave.
If you do get caught on the wrong side after lock-up, you cannot drive out. You park in the reserve, call someone for a lift, and come back for the car the next day once the gate is unlocked. It is a memorable way to end a beach day, and not in a good way.
No Dogs, and Watch for the Trucks
A few more things worth knowing. Dogs are not permitted on Moturoa / Rabbit Island at all — if you want a beach you can walk the dog on, neighbouring Rough Island allows them, so head there instead. There is no overnight camping and no firewood collection, so do not plan to stay or to scavenge for a fire.
And, as above, remember the forest is a live worksite: obey the operational signage, expect the odd road or track to be closed, and give the trucks room. None of this is a reason to stay away. It is just the small print on what is, for our money, the best free beach day in the Nelson region.
Rabbit Island is no hidden gem — every local already knows it, and on a good summer day a thousand of them turn up. But the beach is long enough to absorb the lot, the water stays warm enough to keep the kids in until their lips go blue, and the whole thing costs nothing. Get there in daylight, navigate by the picnic-area signs, keep clear of the logging trucks, leave the dog at home, and be back through the gate before it locks. Do that and you have one of the easiest, cheapest, most reliable good days out in the top of the South.