Panorama taken from among the massive sand dunes of Sandfly Bay on the Otago Peninsula. The picture was taken on a sunny, but windy day in spring 2008.

Sandfly Bay on Otago Peninsula - Otago Peninsula visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Sandfly Bay on Otago Peninsula' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Otago.

Sandfly Bay is a remote sandy bay on the southern side of the Otago Peninsula. The approach to Sandfly Bay can be made either form the end of Sealpoint Road or via a walking track form Sandymount. On the way down from Sealpoint Road there is a lookout over Sandfly Bay with stunning views. Here the whole of the bay comes into focus, dramatically capped at the northern end by Lion Rock or Lion's Head Rock, a sea stack just off shore.

The descent to the beach of Sandfly Bay is steep, with the last part being down sand dunes, which can be strenuous to climb back up again.

Visitors are rewarded with beautiful scenery and relative solitude, even though Sandfly Bay is one of the more popular bays on the Otago Peninsula. The usual residents of the bay are yellow-eyed penguins which can be seen coming back onto shore at dusk to their nets from hides at the northern end of the beach. Hooker's sea lions can also be seen basking on the sandy beach. The ecosystem here is fragile and visitors should take care not to cause damage to the environment or disturb the wildlife.

From Dunedin the two main routes to the peninsula are clearly marked. For Sandymount and Sandfly Bay take the Highcliff Road and then Sealpoint Road to car parking at the end. The round hike to Sandfly Bay from this point takes about an hour.