Accessible North Shore

Most Accessible Beaches in the Country!

Summer is just around the corner and with that comes beautiful weather, Christmas holidays and days at the beach! Isn’t it wonderful when you can get the family together (sometimes from faraway places) and spend a day at the beach with your towels, umbrellas, food and maybe even some games? I’m sure many people have the most amazing memories of being a child and playing around in the sand building castles and then jumping into the ocean to cool off after all of that hard work!

Unfortunately there are many out there who do not have these memories. People with physical disabilities or mobility impairments will often not be present during those amazing times at the beach or in the ocean because it is near on impossible to get wheelchairs, walking frames, and other forms of aide through the sand – let alone into the ocean! If you do see us at the beach, it is because we have had to really struggle and have much support just to find one spot to sit in, only to do it all over again when it’s time to leave.

Some beaches in other areas and countries have been working towards accessible beaches. This has been achieved by building pathways that lead all the way down to the water; some beaches even have specialised wheelchairs that have tyres which can easily go over sand. There are also wheelchairs in Hawaii that have floats on them, making it possible for the user to go into the water.

Imagine what it would be like to have all beaches be accessible, enabling anyone and everyone to take part in something that so many people get to experience. What can we as a community do to make this possible?


By: , YES Disability Resource Centre News: with Sonia Thursby (CEO)
sonia@yesdisability.org.nz

Issue 83 Dec 2017 / Jan 2018