State Sand to Surf, Mt Maunganui
Main beach, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga
Swim in rolling surf on one of New Zealand's most stunning ocean beaches – Mt Maunganui's Main Beach. The home to national and international surf lifesaving competitions, this destination typifies the idyllic surf, sun and sand summer holiday for kiwis and tourists alike.
To ensure you a safe swimming environment at this event we have a number of contingency course options ready to be implemented in the event that ocean conditions on the main beach are unfavourable on event day.
There is a distance and challenge for every swimming ability at the State Sand to Surf
- The State OceanKids is for children aged 6-10 years old and consists of a 200m shallow water swim along the shore line which is lined with Surf Life Saving NZ guards – read more
- The ‘Give It A Go’ 300m Ocean Swim is a great introduction to open water swimming with a triangular course off Main Beach
- The ‘Step It Up’ 1000m Ocean Swim is an achievable distance which starts and finishes on Main Beach for individuals with swimming experience and could be training for the ‘I’m Going Long’ swim at one of the other events
- The 'I'm Going Long' 2.6km Ocean Swim takes you around Rabbit Island & Moturiki Island - this provides swimmers witht the ultimate challenge so it is important individuals that take part have swimming experience and have trained to complete this event.
Registration Details
Registration details for the forthcoming season will be confirmed at a later date.
We do now offer a pre-paid courier service that will courier your pack including your cap and timing chip to you the week leading up to the event. You can book and pay for this service when entering online or purchase from the ocean swim store.
All entrants will receive:
- A timing chip which is loaned to you for the event
- A swim cap that you must wear or the duration of the event
- A gift from principal sponsor State insurance (item TBC - it is being chosen at the moment)
- A personalised certificate that you can download and print at no charge from the results page
- Other sponsor goodies
Entry confirmation
Details of the Sand to Surf prize giving for the forthcoming season will be confirmed at a later date.
Important dates
| 5:00PM | Friday 18 January 2013 | Online Early-bird pricing finishes |
| 11:59PM | Friday 8 March 2013 | $10 late entry fee applies |
| 8:00PM | Wednesday 13 March 2013 |
Online and postal entries close |
Prize Giving
Details of the Sand to Surf prize giving for the forthcoming season will be confirmed at a later date.
Official Charity – Surf Life Saving NZ
Surf Life Saving NZ provide an essential service on New Zealand’s beaches and at the State NZ Ocean Swim Series. They keep all of us safe on the beach and in the water which is why they are the official charity of the State NZ Ocean Swim Series.
Please give generously to Surf Life Saving NZ. All donations will receive a free gift. You can donate when you enter or through the Ocean Swim Store. You can also donate on event day.
- Donations of $5 and $10 will receive a Surf Life Saving NZ 100 Year Centenary key ring
- Donations of $20 will receive a Surf Life Saving NZ toy IRB boat
- Donations of $40 will receive a Surf Life Saving NZ Teddy Bear
- Donations of $90 will receive a Surf Life Saving NZ Centenary book
All gifts will be handed at your event registration or couriered if you have pre-booked the courier service.
Cut off times
The cut off times for the State Sand to Surf are:
- 'I'm Going Long' 2.6km - 1.40 hours from your wave/group start
- 'Step It Up' 1000m - 40 minutes from your group start
- 'Give It Go' 300m - 13 minutes
Event Details
Saturday 16 March 2013
'I'm Going Long' 2.6km - TBC
'Step It Up' 1000m - TBC
'Give It A Go' 300m - TBC
State OceanKids 200m - TBC
Entrant Event Day Information
Coming Soon
Safety Information
View detailed safety information for all events.
Maps & Course descriptions
'I'm going long' 2.6km swim course - option 1
With a beach start, the course will see competitors swim around two iconic Mount Maunganui land marks - Rabbit Island and Moturiki Island before returning back into the Main Beach to finish. The distance is 2.6km distance.
‘I’m Going Long’ 2.6km course map – option 2 (2 x 1300m laps)
The Option 2 course will be used in the event that the ocean and swell conditions are unsuitable and unsafe for the Option 1 to go ahead. Option 2 will see participants swim two 1300m triangular laps off the main beach. The final decision on whether to use course Option 1 or 2 will be made on event day morning by the Event Director.
'Step It Up' 1000m course map
With a beach start, the course follows 2 carefully placed buoys finishing at the same point at Main Beach, Mt Maunganui. Competitors will swim one triangular lap to complete the 1000m distance.
'Give It A Go' 300m course map
With a beach start, the course follows 2 carefully placed buoys finishing at the same point at Main Beach, Mt Maunganui. Competitors will swim one triangular lap to complete the 300m distance.
State OceanKids 200m course map
The State OceanKids event will see children swim from the immediate left of Moturiki Island, north along the beach 200m to finish in line with our inflatable finish line. The course will be lined with lifeguards from Surf Lifesaving New Zealand.
Contingency - 'I'm Going Long' 2.6km course map
The decision to run with the contingency plan will be made in the event of bad weather or circumstances beyond the control of the event managers. The Race Director will make this decision on Friday afternoon and swimmers will be alerted at the Friday registration.
Contingency - 'Step It Up' 1000m course map
Contingency - 'Give It A Go' 300m course map
Contingency - State OceanKids course map
