Moturiki Island

This small island just off Mount Maunganui beach is connected to the mainland by an artificial land bridge. Back in 1966, an aquarium called Marineland was built here, but it closed in May 1981. That same year, it was rebuilt into Leisure Island, a water park with pools, bumper boats, and a hydro slide. That water park operated until 1990, when it was removed from Moturiki Island. Today, you can still walk, bird watch, fish, and rock climb here, and NIWA even has a tide meter on the island.