The cluster of rocks that is Barrett Reef (often known as Barrett's Reef) is one of the most treacherous reefs in New Zealand.

It lies on the western side of the entrance of Port Nicholson, on the approaches to the city of Wellington, at coordinates . The reef is named after Richard (Dicky) Barrett (1807-1847), a whaler and trader. Its Maori name is Tangihanga-a-Kupe. It is popular with recreational underwater divers.

Dangerous entrance

The reef, much of which is exposed even at high tide, is located to the west of the two-kilometre-wide channel that links the Cook Strait with Port Nicholson, close to the shore of the Miramar Peninsula. Due to the channelling effect of the Cook Strait, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, the currents are strong and fickle and gales are common. Add to this the volume of traffic which uses the channel (including several crossing daily of the inter-island ferries to Picton), and it is not surprising that the reef has a lengthy roll-call of shipwrecks.

History of vessels damaged, stranded, or wrecked on Barrett Reef

• 1866 Tui, iron steamer
• 1871 Lady Bird, schooner (3-masted), 303 tons
• 1874 Earl of South Esk, wooden barque, 336 tons
• 1876 Hunter, schooner, 90 tons
• 1921 Polly Woodside, three-masted iron barque, 678 tons
• 1936 Rangitira, inter-island ferry, 6,152 tons
• 1947 Wanganella liner, 9576 tons
• 1968 Wahine, inter-island Ferry, 8,948 tons, 51 lives lost