Lyall Bay, Wellington: Inside the King Kong Filming Locations
Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake of King Kong needed a Skull Island convincing enough to hold its own against giant apes and dinosaurs. It also needed a full-scale 1930s New York. Wellington delivered most of it. Lyall Bay Wellington, a popular surf beach just south of Miramar, carried one of the film’s most memorable sequences.
This guide covers the King Kong filming locations across Wellington. It takes a close look at Lyall Bay itself, and answers a question fans still ask: where was King Kong filmed, and how do you see it for yourself?
Lyall Bay: Skull Island’s Dinosaur Run
Lyall Bay is where the crew filmed Skull Island’s arrival scenes and the frantic dinosaur stampede that follows. It’s one of Wellington’s most popular surfing beaches, sitting just south of Miramar, close to Wellington Airport. The beach’s raw, windswept character gave the production a genuinely hostile edge. A studio backlot couldn’t easily fake that.
Nearby, at Shelly Bay, the crew built a much larger set above the Massey Memorial. It included the native village and the giant wall separating Kong’s world from the rest of the island. Together, Lyall Bay and Shelly Bay formed the physical heart of the Skull Island New Zealand audiences saw on screen.
Building a 1930s New York in Wellington
Skull Island was only half the challenge. The film also needed 1930s New York. Jackson found it in an unlikely place: Seaview, an industrial suburb of Lower Hutt. A vacant plot there became Times Square, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue. The crew redressed and reused it for multiple street scenes throughout the shoot.
Wellington’s own Opera House, on Manners Street, stood in for the Lyric Vaudeville Theatre. It’s where Ann Darrow performs before the show closes for good. Built in 1914 as the Grand Opera House, it’s now a listed historic building. It still operates as a working theatre today. Auckland’s Civic Theatre provided additional footage for the same sequences.
Where Was King Kong Filmed at Sea?
The Venture, the ship that carries the crew to Skull Island, needed real ocean footage to match its studio interiors. Production filmed those scenes around Kapiti Island, a protected bird sanctuary off Wellington’s coast. Further ocean footage came from across Cook Strait.
Kapiti Island isn’t easy to reach even today. Visitor numbers are capped at 50 per day. Landing requires a permit plus a booked commercial launch, and private boats aren’t allowed to land at all. That restriction nearly became a real problem during filming. The Venture began taking on water, and the crew had to make an unscheduled stop on the island to keep the shoot going.
Camperdown Studios in Miramar handled the ship’s interior sets. Stone Street Studios and Wētā Workshop built the film’s visual effects from the ground up. Wētā FX ultimately won an Academy Award for its work, including roughly 800 miniature shots used throughout the film. If Wellington’s Weta connection sounds familiar, it should. The same studios later worked on Pete’s Dragon, which we’ve covered in our guide to Pete’s Dragon’s New Zealand filming locations.
King Kong Filming Locations at a Glance
Here’s how the production’s key Wellington New Zealand filming locations break down.
| Location | Region | Role in the Film |
| Lyall Bay | Wellington | Skull Island’s arrival scene and the dinosaur run |
| Shelly Bay | Wellington | The larger Skull Island set, including the native village and wall |
| Seaview, Lower Hutt | Wellington | 1930s New York streets, including Times Square and Broadway |
| Wellington Opera House | Wellington | The Lyric Vaudeville Theatre scenes |
| Kapiti Island & Cook Strait | Wellington region | Ocean scenes aboard the Venture |
| Camperdown Studios | Wellington | The Venture’s interior sets |
| Stone Street Studios | Wellington | Visual effects and miniature work |
Visiting Lyall Bay Today
Lyall Bay needs no special access, unlike some of the film’s other locations. It’s a genuinely popular local beach, well used for surfing, walking, and coffee stops rather than film tourism specifically. Te Raekaihau Point, at the bay’s edge, adds a short, easy walk with good coastal views.
Wellington itself rewards a longer stay beyond the beach. Our Wellington region guide covers the wider area. It includes the city’s film industry heritage and how to combine it with the rest of a North Island trip.
Planning a Trip Around Wellington’s Film Locations
Wellington’s film history runs deep, from King Kong to The Lord of the Rings to Pete’s Dragon. A trip built around it can easily fill a few days. A North Island tour package can weave Wellington into a wider itinerary alongside Auckland and Rotorua.
For something built entirely around your own interests, our tailor-made tour packages can help. They can shape a route around film locations, coastal walks, or Wellington’s arts scene, in whatever combination suits your trip. You can add Lyall Bay directly to your custom vacation package wishlist. Our Best New Zealand Filming Locations guide rounds up the rest of the country’s screen history.
A Beach That Played a Monster’s Backyard
Lyall Bay doesn’t look like Skull Island today, and it never really did. What convinced audiences was the editing and the visual effects. A beach willing to look wild and unwelcoming on the right kind of overcast afternoon did the rest.
That’s true of a lot of Wellington’s film locations. The city rarely needs to dress up much. It just needs the right light and the right angle. A production willing to look past the surf lessons and coffee shops can see something else entirely. Get in touch to start planning a Wellington itinerary built around Lyall Bay and the rest of the city’s screen history.
