Wikipedia
Papamoa (population 20,100) is the largest suburb of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region on the northeastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand.
Papamoa has 16km of white sandy beach stretching from the boundary with Mount Maunganui in the west to the Kaituna River in the east. Widespread settlement of the area did not start until the early 1980s and prior to this Papamoa had been largely a rural area. The town has been one of the fastest growing areas in New Zealand in recent times due to the increase in popularity of coastal communities, close proximity to Tauranga and local shopping developments. Once a small and tight knit community, many of Papamoa's sweeping paddocks have been swallowed up by urban development and real estate prices have also skyrocketed in recent times.
Papamoa is also renowned for its fishing, surfing and the Papamoa Hills Cultural Heritage Regional Park. As a surfing spot, the area is underrated and has often been seen as the 'poor cousin' to Mount Maunganui.
In 2012, Papamoa Beach was the location for a skinny dipping world record attempt. On 2 December 2012, 299 people got naked in the water as the nearby Baywatch campsite in Gisborne hosted the event. Despite a cold day, lots of people stripped naked attempting to beat Christchurch's Summer Beach Dip. The record failed as Guinness World Records required all swimmers to be in the water at the same time for a group photo. The skinny dips follow a recent court decision upholding the right to be naked in public for innocent reasons.