If you want professional manicure by experienced nail technicians this is the place to go. Jill and her team really look after their clients making a manicure or pedicure a real pampering beauty salon experience. They recently renovated their Grey St salon to include Black Champagne day spa. You can now enjoy a luxurious lounge - complete with comfy chairs and chandeliers - while you wait for your polish to dry.

This home salon in Brookfield is a fantastic place for a quick manicure or pedicure. Owner Kylie is an experienced beauty therapist who also does an amazing facial. She is one of the fastest beauty therapists I know but never makes you feel rushed or compromises on quality. She specialises in Shellac nails which last much longer than regular polish.

Clare’s home salon in Papamoa is a great place to turn your hands into works of art. Clare also specialises in Shellac polish and creates some eye-catching designs that will make you feel dressed up even when you’re hanging out the washing.

If you’re into something a bit ‘out there’, this nail salon is the one for you. Nicole, who is due to relocate to a salon at Golf Rd, Mount Maunganui next month, specialises in decorative nail art. Often each of her client’s hands will feature a range of funky (yet complimentary) designs. She also has a great range of nail accessories - from crowns to bows or diamantes. A cool place to visit before a special occasion.

These ladies come highly recommended for offering a range of ‘essential’ beauty treatments for summer. They recently celebrated eight years in the Bay and offer experience and service with a smile. They are also located just out of the main city centre so parking is a bit easier!

This healthy food cafe is fast getting reputation for serving up flavoursome dishes of ‘real food’. As a good mate put it so well, they offer "full salad hippie goodness". And I'll eat to that!

All the food in the Rosie’s cabinet is fantastic but their eye-catching salads are fresh, chunky and packed with great flavours. The options are right there in view for you to drool over while you order. Some recent renovations to the cafe look fantastic too and the large front doors catch the afternoon breeze on a hot summer’s day.

This popular eatery just picked up best cafe in the upper North Island in the 2014 Cafe of the Year awards, and the accolade was well deserved. The cabinet selection of salads is great and the staff friendly and efficient. There are two outdoor areas to enjoy your salad in the sun and a playground to keep the kids occupied.

These guys are a very popular spot come lunch time in the city. They offer some amazing salads in varying sizes. You can grab a fork and take one with you to the waterfront for a healthy, relaxing lunch. Where possible they use locally sourced produce.

This cafe is pretty much humming any day of the week - which is always a good sign. Well known for their great coffee, their cabinet also boasts a great range of salads. This is an especially good choice for parents with young children and is very breastfeeding friendly.

This one has to top the list for it’s beautiful white sand, rolling waves and close proximity to Mauao. It’s beauty and popularity have also attracted some great ice cream shops - including Copenhagen Cones and Monte Gelato - and great locally-owned cafes like Sidetrack. It’s a busy beach so best visited on a day when you feel like people watching playing a game of beach cricket or volleyball. You can swim between the flags, go for a walk around Mauao and end the day with a soak in the Mount Salt Water Pools - bliss.

This is one of the most picturesque beaches in the Bay. Despite my early skepticism I think last year’s addition of a boardwalk along the grass verge has only enhanced the look and practicality of the beachfront. It’s a great place to have an evening barbeque and a top spot for taking fish n’ chips on a summer’s evening - especially if there’s a cruise ship heading out to sea. A great beach for a dip, safe for kids and the view is fantastic.

This is a great surf beach with a funky beach town to match. It also features a bush walk over the hill to neigbouring Okawa Bay - a stunning and fairly remote little beach with crystal blue water. The beach is slightly more rugged and untouched than the Mount and it’s a great place for an evening stroll on the sand. You can rent cool retro baches to stay in for a night or two and spend a lot of time looking around the shops or sipping coffee at the cafes.

This hidden gem is a fantastic place for a picnic and a swim. It’s hidden at the end of the Omokoroa Penninsula, which is off State Highway 2 about 20 minutes north of Tauranga. The calm harbour is a great place for kids to have a swim and in summer the shallows are really warm and inviting. There is a boat club to enjoy a wine on the deck, a restaurant if you get peckish and a superette and fairly lucky Lotto shop.

My favourite thing about this beach is the surf casting. Not because I go fishing but because anyone who does seems to bring in some of the tastiest snapper ever. It’s also a great place to have fun with the family - swimming between the flags - and provides a lengthy stretch for a considerable beach walk. Once you’ve had enough sun and sand it’s also close to an increasing number of shops. The main holiday camp is right on the beachfront and caters very well to families.

This stunning surf beach is a popular local attraction for Kontiki long-lining and surf casting. It produces healthy sized snapper during the warmer months. It’s also a really nice way to spend an evening or early morning at the beach with the family.

This small rocky island is about 40 minutes from the Tauranga boat ramp at Sulphur Point, Tauranga and it’s a scenic spot for catching snapper. The occasional school of Kahawai come though in warmer months, especially in 15 to 25 metres of water, making for some great sport fishing. Trawl the area using small lures and watch for birds to indicate bait fish schools. Enjoy!

This iconic island off Mount Maunganui Main Beach is a popular spot for rock fishing. It takes about 5 minutes to walk from the beach to the blowhole at the end of the island. It's best to follow the locals to help choose a good spot - safe from rouge waves and high seas.

Set at in a picturesque park 10 minutes drive out of Tauranga is Lake McLaren. This spot offers year-round trout fishing in the lake and nearby Ruahihi Canal. Make sure you have a licence, which can be purchased from nearby Marshall's Animal Park or participating sports shops. Licences expire on September 30 each year. If the trout aren't biting there's also a beautiful glow worm walk to enjoy once the sun goes down.

This is a great spot in Mount Maunganui to take kids fishing for Spotty or Kahawai. Use a handline or rod, or cast out into the channel - just keep an eye out for the pilot boat guiding big ships into port!

This iconic Mount Maunganui business has to be at the top of my list. In summer the smell of the waffles toasting lures you in. There is always a line stretching out the door and down the road, but it’s been the same way for years and they always have plenty of staff on to keep things moving. My favourite choice is a snowghurt (half snowfreeze half youghurt) in a waffle cone. The best reward for after a walk up or round the Mount!

Great value rolled ice creams are often hidden in the ‘burbs. This ‘foodmarket’ in the Greerton Village Shopping Centre is renowned for value for money when it comes to icecream in a cone. The servings are large and the prices cheap. It’s also a great old school outdoor shopping centre to wander around while you eat your purchase.

You’d expect good things from an ice cream parlour and this Te Puke business doesn’t disappoint. Located one shop away from the movie theatre, on the main drag, they do a traditional Kiwi icecream for a sharp, small town price. A great excuse for a summer stop off if you’re traveling between Rotorua and Tauranga!

They’ve been selling icecreams at Tay Street as long as I can remember and nothing beats a double scoop after a long day swimming and sunbathing at the beach. These guys are obliged to roll a decent ice cream at such an iconic Bay location and they don’t disppoint. They also have the all important Goody Goody Gum Drops on the menu too.

I LOVE the range of flavours this gelato parlour on the Main Mount Beach offers. They make their handmade gelato (Italian ice cream) fresh everyday and it tastes incredible. I can’t guarantee the cheapest prices… but you expect to pay a bit more for something handmade! Give your self some time on a hot day because there’s usually a queue!

This fish n’ chip shop has to top the list for reputation and location. The generous pieces of fish are freshly caught and covered in light, crunchy batter. You can sit at the picnic tables on the waterfront - either in the sun or in a sheltered area - and enjoy. The stunning location on a summer’s day makes it a popular spot for lunch too, and you can browse the stalls at the Cargo Shed next door while your food digests. A friend tells me they also often throw in a few freebies.

This is a classic old school fish n’ chip shop. The menu hasn’t changed in years and neither has the great service and yummy fish n’ chips. It has a great reputation for a well cooked chip and is located on Maunganui Road - enroute to the Main Mount Beach or Pilot Bay.

This place is buzzing every evening during summer. It’s a great spot to pick up the fish n’ chips if you’re planning to eat them at the picnic tables at Tay Street beach. The service is really efficient and the staff moving at a pace that ensures the freshest fish n’ chips. Their chips are big fat steak style and a friend tell me they do an ‘epic’ fish burger and cheesy weesies. Their prices are fairly sharp too.

This is a fairly old school Kiwi fish n’ chip shop too, and they seem have the tried and true formula right. I know at least two long-time Tauranga residents who travel a good distance from their own surburbs to get their fish n’ chips at this shop. Their service is fast, the batter crispy and the helpings generous.

This is currently my 'local' and I count myself lucky to have a perfectly acceptable fish n' chip shop just down the road. There is one even closer but they didn't make this list, for obvious reasons. A quick call to Brookfield and I can pick up fresh chips and crunchy battered fish and hot dogs in 10 minutes flat. If the lack of vegetables guilt gets too much for me, their smorgasbord of Chinese food is also fresh, tasty and a cheap and cheerful way to feed a crowd.