Try Whatapu

ok mate here is some free advice, get a friggin life jacket, the west coast claims more lives than anywhere else and most are fisherman, get one of the less bulky one and wear it all the time, you new on the site it would be good to be reading about your trips in 5 yrs time if you get my drift.

rouge waves rips etc you don't stand a chance in your jeans and gummies.

Thanks for the great advise, BA & 3, i will take that on as i really dont wanna become a statistic

Take someone else with you preferably who knows the area and conditions and with life jackets and id take a marine radio too and calm or Easterly conditions.

There's nothing wrong with fishing from north head at the moment on the waitemata harbour, also a lot safer too.

fFshing off the beach at whatipu is nowhere near as dangerous as the rest of Auckland's west coast beaches, the manukau bar protects it from the worst of the swell. As mouth said the beach beside nine pin is a good place to start and at low tide it's easy to cast into the channel  as it's really close (also means you don't have to wade in). The current there can be really strong when the tide is running so it's usually best to pick a day when the tidal difference between high and low is small. Also don't bother if the swell is any more than 1.5m as it's all just too messy. Also don't bother if the wind is any more than 15 knots as its damn annoying. The time of day doesn't seem to make much difference (except that your more likely to catch sharks in the dark). Likely catches here are kahawai and trevally and occasionally a gurnard at slack tide (kingys, small sharks, spotty dogs and snapper are also a possibility). Use a 4 or 5oz breakout sinker with a running rig or pulley rig, even that will not hold when the tide is running. Best bait to use is mullet as its nice and tough and can stand up to the current, if you use pillies then make sure you tie them on with a lot of bait elastic. I wouldn't worry too much about going there by yourself at this time of year as it's highly likely that there will be other people fishing out there. Even so always watch the sea and just use some common sense.

So me and the fams went for a drive up to Shelly Beach wharf for our first fishing mission, Wasnt too packed when we first arrived ,spent a couple of hours there , ended up with a gurnard and a couple of sharks ( which were thrown back), not the greatest but i enjoyed it as did the kids and wife as there was a playground and cafe lol..