Lyall Bay

Lyall Bay
*Huetepara* (Māori)^[1]
Lyall Bay; Huetepara (Māori)
Suburb
	Full moon over the bay
	Coordinates: 41°19′48″S 174°47′37″E / 41.329993°S 174.793505°E
Country	New Zealand
City	Wellington City
Local authority	Wellington City Council
Electoral ward	Motukairangi/Eastern Ward; Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward;
Area
• Land	55 ha (136 acres)
Population (June 2023)
• Total	2,690
Airports	Wellington International Airport

Kilbirnie	Kilbirnie	Rongotai
Melrose	Lyall Bay	Rongotai
	(Cook Strait)	Moa Point

Lyall Bay is a bay and suburb on the south side of the Rongotai isthmus in Wellington, New Zealand.

The bay is a popular surf beach, featuring a breakwater at the eastern end. It is home to two surf lifesaving clubs and has also been the site of surf lifesaving championships. Lyall Bay is a very popular and safe swimming beach.^[4] The beach is only two thirds of its original size: the construction of Wellington International Airport took away the eastern third of the beach. The suburb consists of most of the southern half of the Rongotai isthmus, although Wellington International Airport and a small industrial area next to it are often considered to be part of Rongotai. Lyall Bay is predominantly a residential area, but also contains a part of Wellington's Southern Walkway and the Southern Headlands Reserve. The suburb has a bus service and is near to the Kilbirnie shopping centre and the Tirangi Road Airport Retail Park. There is a primary school (Lyall Bay School), a Playcentre, a lawn bowls club, two churches and a small range of shops. The suburb is also home to Fat Freddy's Drop, a popular Wellington band. The south-western border has Te Raekaihau Point as the dividing landform to Houghton Bay.

Lyall Bay was probably the ancient mouth of the Hutt River.^[5] The current isthmus was created by geologic upheaval as a result of recurring earthquakes, notably the Haowhenua earthquake in the fifteenth century and the 1855 Wairarapa earthquake.^[6] The 1855 earthquake caused a tsunami that swept over the isthmus between Lyall Bay and Evans Bay, leaving fish stranded amongst the sand dunes.^[7]

^ Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. ISBN 9780143204107.
^ Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Population estimate tables - NZ.Stat". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
^ "Lyall Bay". Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA). Retrieved 28 October 2022.
^ Graeme R. Stevens, 1974, Rugged Landscape The Geology of Central New Zealand, A H and A W Reed Ltd.
^ Gardner, J. & Bell, J. [Eds.] 2008. The Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington, NZ., 532 pp.
^ Downes, G; Grapes, R (1999). The 1855 Wairarapa, New Zealand, earthquake - historical data (PDF). Lower Hutt, New Zealand: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. ISBN 0-478-09669-0.

[Place_Names-1] Reed, A. W. (2010). Peter Dowling (ed.). Place Names of New Zealand. Rosedale, North Shore: Raupo. ISBN 9780143204107.

[Area-2] Cite error: The named reference Area was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NZ_population_data_2023_SA2-3] "Population estimate tables - NZ.Stat". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

[4] "Lyall Bay". Land, Air, Water Aotearoa (LAWA). Retrieved 28 October 2022.

[5] Graeme R. Stevens, 1974, Rugged Landscape The Geology of Central New Zealand, A H and A W Reed Ltd.

[6] Gardner, J. & Bell, J. [Eds.] 2008. The Taputeranga Marine Reserve, Wellington, NZ., 532 pp.

[7] Downes, G; Grapes, R (1999). The 1855 Wairarapa, New Zealand, earthquake - historical data (PDF). Lower Hutt, New Zealand: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences. ISBN 0-478-09669-0.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]