Double Beach - possibly the best anchorage in all of the Marlborough Sounds

This has become our go to bay whenever we have guests on board as it has it all, especially a totally epic sunset and fantastic swimming with clear water and a sand / fine shells / small quartz pebble beach to play on.

GPS: 41°11'33.22"S - 174°1'56.46"E
Depth at anchor : 6 metres
Moorings : No
Ocean Floor : Very Sticky mud
Holding : Excellent
Sheltered : from all winds except Nor West
On anchor : moderate mussel boat traffic
                   : wake rolling from the ski lane in summer
Cellphone Signal : 1-2 bar 4G 
Beach : Fine shell, quartz and sand
View : facing west means excellent sunset, native forest outlook and long views across the bay
Fresh Water : small streams, and a fresh water non potable tap
Bugs : minimal

This bay is the total package with the best long sunset in all of the Marlborough Sounds. Welcome to Double Beach in the middle of the Kenepuru Sounds. It has excellent anchoring in thick, sticky and compacted mud and headlands that wrap around giving you protection from almost all weather except for a hard nor-wester. The beach is amazing and there are even camping spots, running water on tap and a questionable toilet with a view. The best thing by far is the sunset, followed closely by the swimming. The water is clear, the beach is fine shell and small pebbles and it doesn't get muddy until you are too deep to touch the bottom. 

"You will love setting anchor here. The mud is perfect but the beach is sandy. It's my favourite place in all of the Marlborough Sounds"

The sunset here is the real star of the show. The long views down the Kenepuru Sounds to the west are picture postcard perfect, and the stuff of paintings and epic Instagram shots. There are layers upon layers of hills in the distance, and as the sun goes down the depth just intensifies.
 Another standout feature of this anchorage is the beach. It is covered in fine shells, fine quartz and has an almost sand like quality to it. It is soft underfoot and there is no need for shoes, as the mussells and rocks are all contained to the headlands and points. The water is clear and the beach continues out 2-3 metres past the low tide mark before becoming deeper and muddier, so swimming here is a real joy. Take care of the stingrays in the summertime though, they do enjoy cruising the shoreline and chilling out with a wee coating of warm sand sometimes, so you need to pay attention. For all of the days we have spent here it never feels long enough!

Photo: the beach is quite spectacular, and very wide at all times except for a very high tide, and perfect for a campfire on the beach!

Anchoring. 

The holding here is excellent. 10/10. The sea floor out in the bay is consistent across the bay and there is room for 2 -3 big boats and plenty of smaller boats close in. The bottom is thick, compacted sticky mud. We normally anchor about 30 - 40 metres back from the ski lane markers in about 6 metres of water and drop out 20 - 30 metres of chain depending on the forecast, which still gives us plenty of clearance from the rocks and reef in the southern quadrant of the bay. The tide here has sometimes a nearly 3 metre variance so if you have a deep draught you don't want to get too close to the beach. We have experienced some hectic winds in here, ridden out 30 - 40 knots and not felt the need to move as long as the sea state was favourable and not too rolly. The biggest drawback is the ski lane in the summer, which can create a lot of rolling as the boats whizz around, but this is mainly contained to the weekends over the busy peak summer period around Christmas and New Year.