Fibreglass Pool Ideas Hikurangi
In-ground fibreglass pools for Hikurangi, built in Whakatāne and installed by the local Northland team.
A Bayside pool is one piece of moulded fibreglass made in Whakatāne, installed by the Northland team that has been putting them in for four years. Here is what suits Hikurangi, what fits, and what happens between the quote and the first swim.
At a glance
Sizes are quoted as internal, water-line measurements — an 8 x 4 is 8 x 4 of water. Depth is the shell height, and capacity is measured to the top of the shell.
The photo up top
What to look at in a pool photo
That is a finished Bayside pool, and it is the best way we can show you what one looks like in a yard — it is not a photo of a section in Hikurangi. Look at how much room the pool takes out of the space around it, where the water line sits when you look out from the house, and what the yard looks like once the paving and planting are done. For an in-ground fibreglass pool in Hikurangi, those three decide it.
- How the pool sits in the section Start from the space you actually have. The shell is only part of the footprint once the surround and somewhere to walk have taken their share, and that arithmetic decides what fits in Hikurangi long before the model does.
- The colour of the water The water takes its colour from the finish on the shell, and it is the one choice on the whole build you look at every day. Worth seeing a finished pool rather than a swatch before you commit.
- What surrounds it Paving, decking and glass fencing are what turn a shell in the ground into a yard. They are priced and chosen separately from the pool itself, and getting them settled early keeps the build moving.
Want to see one in the ground rather than a photo of one? Splashdown Pools installs right across Hikurangi & the Whangarei district — give them a call and ask. Every shell they set was moulded in our own factory first.
Up here
Fibreglass pools in Hikurangi, and what is different up here
Hikurangi is the closest town to Whangarei on this list, about 17 km north of the city, with Kawakawa and the Bay of Islands further up the same road. It is a small inland town on sections that are usually generous, which is the opposite problem to the coastal towns — here the question is usually where the pool should sit, not whether one will fit.
Sue and Pete
The people behind this patch are Sue and Pete of Splashdown Pools, and they do more of the job than the install. They run the pool shop in Kerikeri as well, which means pool and spa chemicals, water testing and equipment are kept locally, and they are the ones who look after your pool after it is full — not a call centre in another city. Four years of installing up here, and landscaping packages as part of the work, so the job ends with a finished yard rather than a finished shell.
The job up here
Hikurangi is inland, so it is warmer in summer and cooler in winter than the coast towns, and a pool is a genuine summer asset rather than a sea substitute. The sections are usually bigger than the beach towns, the access is usually simpler, and the install is the sort of job that goes to plan when the base and the levels are done properly.
Getting everything in
Northland is not the city. The quarries and the suppliers are further out, the towns are smaller and the sections are often somewhere between the two, so a pool build up here is a logistics job before it is a building job. Pete arranges what has to travel and when it travels, which is the difference between a job that runs to plan and one that waits on a truck. Hikurangi is a small inland town rather than a holiday address, so the pool is a family purchase and it gets used from the first warm week through to the end of autumn.
What you are looking at above is paving and a fence along the pool. That is what finishing a pool looks like, and it is the part most people underestimate — the shell is placed in a day or two, and the surrounds are what you live with. It is one of our photographs, shown as an idea rather than as an installation in Hikurangi.
Starting point
Choosing a fibreglass pool for Hikurangi
The pool follows the section. Get these four settled and the model picks itself.
Space on the section
Get a tape on the site first. What fits is decided by the clear space, not by the plan you drew on the back of an envelope.
How you will use it
Decide who swims and how — small children, teenagers, laps, or two adults at the end of the day. Each points at a different model and depth.
Getting it in
Getting the shell in is the part that surprises people. On a tight section it is worth talking about before anything is ordered.
Around the pool
The surrounds are what you live with. Splashdown does the landscaping packages as well, so the yard gets finished rather than left as a hole with a pool in it.
One thing, three names
Swimming pool, in-ground pool, fibreglass pool — what is the difference?
People search all three terms. For a Bayside pool they mostly describe the same thing.
In-ground pool
A pool set into the ground rather than standing above it. Every Bayside shell is designed to go in the ground, so an in-ground pool is the normal case rather than an upgrade. Where digging is not wanted there is a Freestanding option in the range — still a Bayside shell, sitting above ground.
Fibreglass pool
The pool body is a one-piece moulded shell, made in our Whakatāne factory and delivered complete. On site the work is preparing the base, placing and setting the shell, then everything around it — rather than building the pool body itself on site.
Swimming pool
The widest of the three, and the one people type most. It covers a small plunge pool through to a 12 m family and lap pool — the difference being length, depth and how much of the section they take up.
The dimensions we sell are internal, water-line measurements — an 8 x 4 is 8 x 4 of water. Depth is the shell height, and capacity is to the top of the shell. The shell itself needs a little more room than the pool does.
The range
The size range, smallest to largest
Ten fibreglass swimming pool models cover it. At the small end: the 3.6 x 2.2 m Tranquil and the 4 x 2.4 m Pause. Mid-range: the 5.45 x 3.4 m Element, the 6.5 x 3 m Retreat and the 7 x 3.5 m Cove. Larger: the 8 x 4 m Satin, the 9 x 4.4 m Shoreline, the 10 x 4.4 m Coastline and the 12 x 4.4 m Big Bertha. Every one is moulded in Whakatāne. Sizes are quoted as internal water-line dimensions, so an 8 x 4 really is 8 x 4 of water, depth is the shell height, and capacity is measured to the top of the shell.
The sequence
The sequence of a pool build in Hikurangi
The sequence is the same on every job. What changes is how much of it your section makes difficult.
- A look at the site — where the pool sits, how the digger and the shell get in, and where the equipment goes.
- A written quote — the pool itself, in the ground and running, with the inclusions listed plainly.
- The shell is built — moulded in Whakatāne by the people who make every Bayside pool.
- Dig and prepare — excavation, base preparation and backfill of the hole.
- Place the shell — set on the prepared base by the installer who quoted the work.
- Fill, commission and hand over — water in, pump and filtration running, handbook handed across.
Expect the shell to go in quickly and the finish to take longer. Fencing in particular has to be done before the pool is used, not after.
Year one
What ownership looks like the year after
Water chemistry is most of it, and it is easier than it sounds once you are in the habit — get that right and everything else follows. We show you the routine on handover day, so you are not learning it from a manual.
Read the pool warranty Pool maintenance tips Landscaping around a pool
Nearby
Pool ideas for the rest of Northland
One team looks after this region: Sue and Pete at Splashdown Pools, and these are the other towns with their own pool ideas pages. If your town is not on the list, ask — the patch runs from Mangawhai in the south to Kaitaia in the north.
- Pool ideas for Kerikeri
- Pool ideas for Whangarei
- Pool ideas for Paihia
- Pool ideas for Russell
- Pool ideas for Mangonui
- Pool ideas for Kaitaia
- Pool ideas for Kaikohe
- Pool ideas for Kawakawa
- Pool ideas for Dargaville
- Pool ideas for Mangawhai
- Pool ideas for Waipu
- Pool ideas for Ruakaka
- Bayside Pools Kerikeri — Sue, Pete & Splashdown Pools
Questions
Questions about a pool in Hikurangi
Do you install pools in Hikurangi?
Yes. Hikurangi is the closest town on this list to Whangarei — about 17 km north of the city — and it is inside the local installer’s patch, with the Bay of Islands towns further up the same road.
What is different about a pool on a Hikurangi section?
The sections are usually bigger than the beach towns and the access is usually simpler, so the decision is about where the pool goes rather than whether one will fit. That is the site visit’s job, and it is the point at which the ground and the levels get sorted out.
Is a pool worth it inland, away from the coast?
The summers up here are hot, and Hikurangi is inland enough that the sea breeze the coast towns get is not part of the afternoon. A pool is used through the warm season and it does not depend on the beach being a five-minute drive away. That is the case most people here make for one.
Is a building consent required for a pool in Hikurangi?
Pool fencing is the part that is not optional. It has to comply with the building code and it is checked, whether or not the pool itself needed a consent. The consenting side up here works the same way it does anywhere else in the country — there is nothing peculiar to Northland about it — and it is worked through as part of the job rather than left to you. The fencing sits outside the pool price, so ask for it to be shown on the quote.
How long does a pool installation take?
Excavation and setting the shell are the quick part — days rather than weeks once the team is on site. What takes the time is what comes after: filling, the surrounds, fencing and balancing the water. You get a realistic sequence up front. Up here the thing that moves dates is how far the materials have to travel, and that is planned rather than discovered.
Which Bayside model should I look at first?
It follows the section rather than the town. Tight sections end up at the plunge and compact models — the Tranquil, the Pause and the Element. Sections with room usually take a 7 to 8 metre family pool, which is the Retreat, the Cove or the Satin. The whole range with its dimensions is on the pool range page if you want to see the sizes side by side first.
Who installs a Bayside pool in Hikurangi?
We manufacture, and the licensed local installer puts the pool in. For this whole patch that is Sue and Pete at Splashdown Pools, based at Kerikeri, who have been installing up here for four years. Every shell is moulded in our Whakatāne factory and set by the installer who covers your area, and the person who quotes your job is the person on your site when it goes in.
Are fibreglass pools in-ground pools?
Yes. A Bayside shell is designed to be set into the ground, so an in-ground pool is the normal case rather than a special order. The range also includes a Freestanding option where digging is not wanted; it is the same shell family, sitting above ground.
What is different about a fibreglass pool?
The shell arrives as one finished piece rather than being built up on site, so the on-site work is preparing the base, placing and setting it, and then everything around the water. That is also why the surface matters: ours is ChlorShield, the gelcoat system on every Bayside shell, and the ChlorShield page sets out what it is built to do.
What colours do fibreglass pools come in?
There is a full palette on the pool colours page, shown on real pools rather than as swatches on a screen. You can also ask to see a colour in person before the shell is ordered — the light a pool sits in changes how a colour reads, and up here that light is strong for most of the year.
Ready to talk about a pool in Hikurangi?
Send us where the pool is going. You will get a written quote and a site visit from the local team who will build it.