Just 6km from the city, Lyall Bay boasts Wellington’s most popular surf beach, is a great spot for dogs and their owners, and a cool place to hang out all year round.

People have been surfing in the bay for more than a century, with early adopters no doubt inspired by Hawaiian surfing legend and Olympic medal-winning swimmer Duke Kahanamoku. A big crowd hit the beach in 1915 to see the Duke demonstrate “the royal and noble art” of surfboard riding and it’s been all go there ever since. Here are five things to do in Lyall Bay.