High tide was at 3.12pm on December 27th. Cheltenham is difficult to swim at during low tide, so the best times to attempt are a couple of hours before to a couple of hours after high tide. I was there with family and unfortunately had to leave by 2pm. Even though I missed out on the awesomeness of a high tide at Cheltenham, the beach visit went swimmingly and included passage of a large container ship which propelled a few small breakers onto the shore.

View of Rangitoto Island and the container ship from Cheltenham beach