59 locations across five regions, each checked against live AirShare airspace data - control zones, 4 km aerodrome buffers, restricted areas and VFR transit lanes. Every spot carries a seclusion, quiet and flying rating (all higher = better), plus the quietest time and days to go.
All 59 spots, coloured by region. Click one of the five regions to open it.
Isthmus parks and harbour reserves, 10-21 minutes from the CBD. Airspace is clean except Orakei Basin.
Bucklands Beach out to the Pohutukawa Coast. Clean airspace the whole way; two sites need a regional-park permit.
Hibiscus Coast, Mahurangi and Matakana. The North Shore is locked up by the control zone - the good flying starts north of Silverdale.
The Manukau Harbour side. The Waitakere Ranges and the Whenuapai control zone take out most of the west, so these are what's left.
Franklin. The airport control zone plus four aerodrome buffers cover the entire urban south, so everything legal is rural or coastal.
Every spot here assumes you are flying under Part 101. These are the three rule sets that decide where you can legally launch, and each one can override the others.
CAA Drone rules and pilot requirementsPart 101 and Part 102, pilot registration and competency, airspace classes, 120 m ceiling, and the FPV and night-flying conditions. This is the rule set everything else sits on top of. Auckland Council Council rules and guidelinesWhere you can and can't fly on council land, the regional park permit process, the 2.5 kg limit without council permission, and the code of conduct for flying over parks and reserves. DOC Department of Conservation rulesPublic conservation land needs a concession (permit) to take off, land or hover. Also the wildlife separation rules: 100 m to take off near wildlife, 50 m in flight, and 150 m from marine mammals.