Circling the Coromandel Peninsula in Winter

The Coromandel Peninsula is deceptively small on a map of New Zealand’s North Island. It juts from the land mass on the east side, across from Auckland. On summer Fridays, the roads are jam-packed with cars streaming out of Auckland and headed to the Coromandel’s beaches.

With only a few roads running through the peninsula (one of them closed due to slips), and most of them as twisty-turny as my small intestine, I was glad to visit during the New Zealand winter.

However, as much as I was glad of the lack of crowds, I despaired, at first, of what to do and see in the Coromandel. Most blog posts and tourist websites provide a list of the best beaches–best for swimming, best for surfing, best for relaxing, best for getting away from crowds. While Coromandel winters are not winters in the Colorado sense, they are also not swimming, sun-tanning, or shorts winters, and I can only walk onto so many white sand beaches before they begin to blend together. Additionally, many of the coastal tracks that I wanted to hike were closed due to slips and unstable cliff-sides as a consequence of the cyclones last summer.

Yet, I am an intrepid explorer, so I set out to see the Coromandel, partly out of a sense of responsibility (I came all this way) and partly because no part of New Zealand had let me down yet and I knew there had to be more than simply stunning beaches to this region.

Thames

I drove the loop counterclockwise, so the first town I arrived in was Thames. Thames was a lot bigger than expected and it took me an hour and a half to walk the downtown, peeking into cafes and shops. I returned to this area later on to access the Pinnacles.

Rapaura Watergardens

I turned off the main road and headed back into the hills a few miles to reach this private garden. Fifteen dollars in the honesty box got me through the gate, and then I wandered through these pretty gardens (twice), before making the half hour trek up to the private waterfall.

I couldn’t help wishing my mom were with me, as she’d have been astounded by the landscaping, the attention to detail, and the pretty plants. I enjoyed the walk on my own, as it was, and had the gardens to myself.

Waiau Falls

Coromandel Town

The town of Coromandel is a tiny three way intersection with a row of yummy looking restaurants. If Thames was much larger than I’d expected, Coromandel Town was much smaller. There’s a ferry from Auckland to Coromandel Town, so in my head I’d pictured a much larger place with a far more touristy feel, but that wasn’t it at all. It was cute and still had this tiny town authentic feel.

I also did a short walk to an old pa site that granted pretty views over the water and the mountains that trace up the spine of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Northern Views

Otama Beach

The above activities filled up my first day in the Coromandel, so I drove up another day to explore the east coast. First, I went to Otama Beach, which was a pretty and secluded beach with views of Great Barrier Island in the distance. I’d intended to drive to Port Jackson, which is at the very tip of the Coromandel and provides stunning views of Great Barrier, but it’s a two hour drive on gravel roads each way and the hike I wanted to do there (the Coromandel Coastal Track) was closed, so I opted for Otama Beach instead and 4 fewer hours of driving. If you look closely in the center photo, there’s a tiny smudge of dark blue on the horizon. Hi GBI!

Kauotunu

After lunch at the beach, I stopped in Kauotunu for a quick break and ice cream!

Whitianga and Surroundings

Whitianga is one of the larger towns in the Coromandel and I walked through the charming downtown eyeing up restaurants that must be bustling in the summer months. For me, it was a sleepy town with pretty beach houses and a secluded bay.

Shakespeare’s Cliff

It’s a two-minute ride on the ferry (or a thirty-five minute drive around the inlet, which is what I did) to Cook’s Beach and a short walk up Shakespeare’s Cliff for view’s over the bay.

Cathedral Cove

The small town of Hahei is near Cook’s Beach and it’s the closest access point for Cathedral Cove, which, according to my guide, receives over 200,000 visitors per year. Well, the cyclone last February decimated the hiking track so the only way to access the cove is by boat. Or kayak.

As it was only the guide and me, he took us through some narrow channels right through churning waves and rocky islands, and up close to a fur seal on the rocks. The water was a stunning blue.

After a quick break for tea, we paddled over to Cathedral Cove. The slips on the two beaches were obvious, and even more concerning were the rock shards on the beach beneath the Cathedral Cove arch. We could see exactly where the huge chunk of rock had fallen from the ceiling of the arch, so it’s pretty clear why DOC has the beach closed as well. The guide, who is obviously very familiar with the area, told me he’d been out to the cove only a few days before and that rock fall was new, so the whole area is still unstable.

It’s unclear when the beach will reopen and, probably, the track will never be rebuilt. So I’m glad I went when I did! However, I would say that the best part of the experience was simply being on the water and getting a different perspective of the waves, beaches, and cliffs. Cathedral Cove itself was cool, but not the highlight for me.

Hot Water Beach

Another tourist hot spot near Hahei is Hot Water Beach. Two hot springs are located on the beach, bubbling up in the sand at low tide, and so people flock to the area with shovels and dig holes to create makeshift hot tubs.

When I went, low tide was at 6:20 pm, so I arrived at 4:30 and walked across the beach, through a small opening in the rough rocks, and…into a small crowd of people.

I can’t imagine this location in the summer, because the single hot spring that we could access provided hot water to an area of about five by seven feet, so I thought I’d wait until the tide fell further and dig my hole near the second, lower hot spring. Well, the ride never fell that far. Not even close. So I drifted back towards the other group and managed to worm my way in. At this point, the tide still wasn’t low enough (the holes people were trying to dig kept getting obliterated by the waves coming in, so we all just stood there in a bunch, like penguins, and let the hot water run over our feet.

As the sun began to disappear, many of the people left and I began to dig. Soon, it was about six of us digging holes in the sand. The waves were still pretty high so it was slow going. I had a pretty nice hole with a comfortable temperature (and by nice, I mean the water came up to about my belly-button when I sat in it (which was about as good as it was going to get when digging a hole in saturated sand). Then the other wanted to combine all of our holes (because none of there’s were even close to as good as mine), and I agreed because “team-spirit” and then the collective hole because like there’s: shallow.

So we ended up sitting in about six inches of water, and the hot springs were SCALDING, so we’d sit for a few seconds, enjoying the perfect temperature, then someone would start to squirm, another would lift their feet out of the water, and then someone would jump up and away with a curse as the nearly boiling water grew too hot. When the next wave came up, we’d try to guide the water to the far end of the pool to cool the water and for about a minute it would be perfectly comfortable again. Only to repeat the whole thing!

It was so ridiculous and comical, and yet it was an absolute blast.

Tairua

In Tairua, I climbed Mount Paku, which is an old volcano at the edge of the ocean. It’s become a neighborhood, with rows and rows of houses perched on the steep slopes, but when it gets too steep for buildings, a small trail leads to the top with lovely views! I could even see the Pinnacles.

Whangamatā

If I had to choose a town to live in on the Coromandel, it would be Whangamatā. It isn’t as big as Thames or Whitianga, but it has a cute stretch of downtown streets with cafes, cute restaurants, and boutique shops. It’s definitely the kind of place my mom would adore.

I was really looking forward to exploring Donut Island (Whenuakaura Island) while I was in Whangamatā. This is an ancient volcanic island about a half a kilometer off the beach. A crack in the side of the island allows kayaks or SUPs to paddle into the center. It looks beautiful and I was very excited to explore the lagoon, but my tour kept getting canceled due to wind and weather. So now I’ve got something to look forward to when I return!

Whiritoa, Waihi, and the Karangahake Gorge

These locations are also part of the Coromandel Peninsula (and, in my opinion, the best part). Since I was staying in Whiritoa and got to explore this area with much more depth, I’ve wrote a separate (even longer) post about the best part of the Coromandel. You can read it here: A Hidden Paradise in Whiritoa, New Zealand.

And… My Top Three!

I had a great time exploring the Coromandel, and imagine that while it’s much busier in the summer, it’s also far more enchanting, since you can park at nearly any pull-off and run down to a pristine white beach and turquoise waves for a sunny afternoon.

While I still enjoyed seeing some of the stunning beaches, I didn’t get the same experience. So, my top three non-beach activities are: Hot Water Beach, the Rapaura Watergardens, and sea kayaking (to Cathedral Cove or otherwise).