Tourist First: Coromandel Peninsula: Sea Caves and Hot Springs

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Coromandel Peninsula: Sea Caves and Hot Springs

The person seated in front of us on a boat tour around Hahei points out a rock spire. The
coast around Hahei has a beach with hot springs and seemingly countless sea caves.

Hahei is not an obvious destination for international travelers, but many New Zealanders know it as a holiday town with great beaches, sea caves and hot springs. It's on the the east (Pacific Ocean) side of the Coromandel Peninsula, which sticks up like a little finger pointing north on the east coast of the North Island not too far from Auckland.

The Tatahi Lodge, where we stayed three nights, is a collection of one-story buildings hidden from the main road and within walking distance of restaurants, cafes and Hahei Beach, which would probably be more of a destination if there weren't a more famous beach nearby: Hot Water Beach, where at low tide you can dig pools to be filled by hot springs beneath the sand. Sort of a dig-your-own-spa thing. The Tatahi Lodge supplies each room with a shovel.

Hot Water Beach is a short drive from the lodge, but the 2.5-kilometer walking trail to Coromandel's famous Cathedral Cove starts just down the road from the lodge. Due to damage from Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit just before our visit, the trail was closed during our time there. We did see the cove, though, on a boat tour. We encountered a good bit of storm damage in driving from Auckland to Hahei with several major roads closed. Fortunately, we had a New Zealand smart phone and the navigation app kept us on roads that were open, though our drive was considerably longer than we had expected.

Hahei is a tiny town with the beach and the Tatahi Lodge at one end and the Church Bistro at the other. An easy walk took us there for an excellent dinner one night, beef cheeks for one of us and lamb for the other. We drove twice to Hotties, a restaurant ovelooking Hot Water Beach, once for lunch and, since lunch was so good, once for dinner. A wedding party had taken over the interior of Hotties at dinner, but we had reserved a terrace table, overlooking Hot Water Beach and the open Pacific. We enjoyed excellent seafood, especially the mussels, which actually are pretty excellent anywhere in New Zealand.

Another short drive took us to Cook's Beach, which is on Mercury Bay where in 1769 the British Captain Jame Cook observed the transit of Mercury and where he was the first European to step on the shore. Our drive ended at a ferry dock. We took a five-minute boat ride to the town of Whitianga where we had lunch at one of many waterfront places catering to visitors. On the drive back to Hahei, we stopped at Mercury Bay Estate winery for a flight of its sauvignon blanc, pinot noir rose and other wines. We didn't fully explore the Coromandel, but we fully enjoyed the areas we did visit.

Here are some snapshots:

Steps connect the beach at Hahei with a parking area. Our
hotel was a short walk from this beach, which is considered
one of the better swimming beaches on the Coromandel.

Gentle waves and soft sand at Hahei, though water termperatures do not reach
what I consider comfortable for swimming.

We saw more kayakers than swimmers at Hahei.

An outfitter helps his customers get their kayak through the gentle surf at Hahei.

Jane and I kept commenting on how much parts of
New Zealand reminded us of the California coast
near our home in San Diego. This van, which was parked
at Hahei Beach every day that we were there, would fit
right in at California surfing beaches. Just substitute
surfboards for the ocean kayak.

Entrance to a sea cave as seen during
a boat tour around Hahei.

A sea cave entrance as seen from inside the cave.
Several were large enough for our inflatable
boat to enter and maneuver in.

The caves reminded me of some sort of adventure ride at a Disney park, but
these are 100 percent real,

Some large offshore rocks have fissures
wide enough for a small boat to go through,

This is where the rock above a sea cave collapsed, leaving an almost circular hole
in the cave's ceiling and a gigantic hazzard to anyone hiking above.

After all the other sea caves, the natural arch at Cathedal Cove was something of
a disappointment. Boats do not go though the opening, which is thought to resemble
the gothic arches of British cathedrals.

Drinks at Hotties overlooking Hot Water Beach.

Beachgoers dig holes at Hot Water Beach that fill with hot water from hot
springs beneath the sand. At high tide the sands are inaccessible and all
the previous "spas" are washed away.

Mercucy Bay Estate overlooks a bay once
visited by the British explorer James Cook.

This plaque is at an viewing site overlooking
Mercury Bay and Cook's Beach.

Mercury Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula. The bit of white at the shore
is the white sand of Cook's Beach.

This whimsical creation was on a sidewalk
tree in Whitianga.

A ferry across the Whitianga harbor connects the road to Hahei with the
commercial district of Whitiang. It takes about five minutes.

Fishing near the ferry dock in Whitianga.

The road home: I shot this as we returned from Whitianga. Our rental car
was in the lot at right. It was about a half-hour drive back to Hahei.

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Argentine Patagonia

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