PictonNZWaitohi · Marlborough Sounds
A yacht moored on calm water in Picton Harbour

Beach & bay

Shelly Beach

The small beach ten minutes' walk from the foreshore, at the edge of Victoria Domain.

Photo: Krzysztof Golik / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Reached by the Coathanger Bridge over the marina, with public toilets and the start of the Lower Bob's Bay Track. The closest beach to the ferry terminals.

  • Beach
  • Free
  • Good with kids
  • Near the ferry
  • No car needed
Show on the Picton map Open in OpenStreetMap Directions

At a glance

Distance
422 m / 10 minutes on foot from the foreshore via the Coathanger Bridge
Cost
Free
Facilities
Public toilets
Swimming
Not stated by any source
Picton's waterfront foreshore reserve with the marina and moored yachts
The Picton foreshore, with the marina and London Quay behind. Andy king50 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

About Shelly Beach

Shelly Beach is where the town's track network begins: over the footbridge from the foreshore, past the marina, and you are on a small beach with toilets, Memorial Park behind it and the cliff track to Bob's Bay heading off around the point. Whether it is a good swimming beach is not something any council source states, so we don't either.

Know before you go

  • Toilets here and at Bob's Bay.

Sources for this page

Location: OpenStreetMap contributors via Nominatim (Shelly Beach; feature).

Facts on this page were checked against the sources listed on 29 September 2026.

Something wrong or out of date? Tell us.

Nearby

Straight-line distances from Shelly Beach.

Picton's Coathanger pedestrian bridge crossing the marina inlet, a central part of the walk to Shelly Beach.

Foreshore to Shelly Beach

Ten minutes from the waterfront, over the Coathanger Bridge, to a small beach.

10–25 minEasyFree0 km away
Picton Foreshore's palm-lined lawn beside the harbour, with benches, marina boats and a ferry in view.

Picton Foreshore

The lawn, the palms, the marina and the war memorial — where the town meets the water, and where everything starts.

15 min – 2 hrsWalk from townFree0.3 km away
Wide view of the museum entrance, exhibition building and adjoining dry-dock shelter.

Edwin Fox Maritime Museum

An 1853 teak sailing ship in dry dock on the waterfront — one of the oldest surviving merchant hulls anywhere.

45 min – 2 hrsWalk from townKids0.4 km away
A harpoon cannon, projectile, rope and other whaling equipment displayed inside the museum.

Picton Heritage & Whaling Museum

Two thousand items of Māori, whaling and maritime history, on the site of the original Waitohi pā.

30 min – 1.5 hrsWalk from townKids0.4 km away

Eat nearby

Boost Real Fruit Icecream and Coffee

· Picton foreshore, Picton 7220 · 0.3 km · Trading status not recently re-confirmed — check before you go

Le Café Picton

Cafe · Dinner · Pub · Coffee · 12-14 London Quay, Picton 7220 · 0.3 km · Temporarily closed

Oxley's Bar & Kitchen

Pub · Lunch · Dinner · 1 Wellington Street (corner London Quay), Picton 7220 · 0.3 km

Hours and menus live on pictonrestaurants.co.nz, which shares our venue data.