What it is
The bay was first called Duppa Bay after an early resident and was renamed after the Oriental, one of the ships that brought settlers to Wellington in 1840. Public baths opened here in 1864, the sea wall was built from 1911 and the first Norfolk pines were planted along the promenade in 1921.
The beach is largely man-made: sand arrived as ships' ballast from England in the 1940s, and in 2004 it was rebuilt with 22,000 tonnes of sand from Golden Bay. Offshore, the Carter Fountain, donated to the city in 1973, sends a jet of water about 16 metres high and is lit at night. Freyberg Pool, an indoor pool built out over the water in 1963 and named after Bernard Freyberg, stands at the city end of the bay.
Getting there by bus
Routes 14 and 24 run along Oriental Parade and stop right by the beach: Oriental Parade opposite Oriental Terrace (stop 6515), Oriental Parade at Oriental Terrace (stop 7515) and Oriental Parade at Oriental Bay Rotunda (stop 6516) are all within 70 metres. Further towards the city, Oriental Parade at Freyberg Pool (stop 6514) is served by the same routes.
Route 20 to Mt Victoria stops at Moeller Street at Hawker Street (stop 7564) and Hawker Street at Moeller Street (stop 6564), about 250 metres up the hill behind the bay.
