Victory Beach
Victory Beach sits on the Pacific coast of the Otago Peninsula on New Zealand’s South Island. It is the peninsula’s longest beach, about 3.2 km (2.0 miles) long, and faces roughly east. It’s 24 km by road from Dunedin city centre and 7 km from Portobello.
The beach is just northeast of the entrance to Papanui Inlet. The northern end reaches the cliffs of Kaika Hill and the Te Wharekaiwi headland, and the southern end fades into a tidal sandflat at the mouth of Papanui Inlet. Behind the beach are tall sand dunes that shelter a swampy area called Okia Flat. The beach and its headlands form Wickliffe Bay, named after the ship John Wickliffe, which helped bring the first permanent European settlers to Otago.
Okia Flat features two large basalt outcrops called the Pyramids: the Large Pyramid (Pū-wheke-o-Kia) to the north and the Little Pyramid (Te Matai o Kia) to the south. The Little Pyramid has a cave carved by wave erosion.
Access to the beach is via Dick Road, which starts from Weir Road and Papanui Inlet Road. Portobello visitors can reach Dick Road mainly via Harington Point Road, or via Allans Beach Road and Sheppard Road. At the end of Dick Road there is a 2 km walking track to the beach, passing the Pyramids. A detour from the track goes up the Little Pyramid to a viewing spot. The track then splits into a loop with many dune trails. The junctions are marked by yellow and black poles, which can be hard to see.
Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust helps manage part of the area. The beach is home to rare species, especially yellow-eyed penguins. Other birds include royal spoonbills, and the royal albatross colony near Taiaroa Head is nearby. Sea lions and fur seals also visit the area. Skinks and geckos are common in Okia Flat, and occasionally elephant seals are spotted nearby. The native pīkao grass on Okia Flat has largely been replaced by marram grass and other introduced plants; conservation work aims to restore the pīkao.
Dense stands of tree nettle grow near the Little Pyramid, so visitors should avoid skin contact. The cave at the base of the Little Pyramid is an important archaeological site. Māori oral history says it was shelter for a wounded warrior, and evidence shows occupation there for more than 500 years, including middens, adzes, moa bones, and human bones.
The SS Victory departed Port Chalmers for Melbourne on 3 July 1861. It ran aground at the southern end of the beach around 6 pm. The captain tried to stop the ship, but it became buried in deep sand. All passengers and mail were unloaded, and there were no deaths. The chief mate, George Hand, was found intoxicated and neglectful of duty and sentenced to three months of hard labour; the captain’s actions were criticised. Much of the cargo and hull were auctioned on the beach, recovering money for the owners. The beach later served as a filming location for the TV movie Out of Ashes.
Victory Beach is sometimes used for nude sunbathing. New Zealand has no official nude beaches; public nudity is allowed on beaches where it is known to occur.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:47 (CET).