Pontoon paddling will delight swimmers at Browns Bay Beach for years to come thanks to funding by Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.
The new Browns Bay pontoon will be installed in time for the school holidays in April.
Manly and Waiake beaches, and Arkles, Tindalls and Stanmore bays, all have pontoons open from October to April each year.
Although several areas have pontoons for swimmers to enjoy, Little Manly Beach dippers will have to make a splash at a nearby pontoon because the seabed makes it risky to install one there.
Auckland Council Community Facilities team assess all pontoon sites. Criteria include shelter from winds and storm swells, adequate low tide water depth and distance from the shoreline at high tide, as well as being accessible from popular recreation spots but being unlikely to impact other activities such as boat ramps, surfing or ski lanes.
Assessed and ruled out, are sites at the Ōrewa estuary, Matakatia, and Rothesay, Murrays, Campbells and Mairangi bays.
Project delivery head John Schermbrucker says, “It is very disappointing that a pontoon can’t be installed at Little Manly but it is the right decision.
“The site is deemed unsafe for a pontoon because at all tides people have to cross a rocky seabed to get to it, which becomes hazardous.”
Pontoons have no moving parts or pinch points and are anchored in place with a concrete mooring block.
