The Coromandel is a great place to visit in NZ because of its proximity to Auckland. I wouldn’t recommend a day trip because it’s about a 3hr drive from the city out to the luscious peninsula where you can find beaches, rainforests, wineries, and small towns. It reminded me a lot of Hawaii.

We rented a car in Auckland and drove to Hot Water Beach, the town in which we stayed. It’s known for the beach with geothermal hot springs, which draws visitors from all around the world. You’ll see lots of people with shovels digging deep holes in the sand and relaxing in the bath temperature water.

OUR AIRBNB

We really enjoyed our stay at this AirBNB just up the hill from Hot Water Beach. It was a great location to visit other towns in the area, and relax at the end of a busy two weeks.

the beaches

We checked out Hot Water Beach and Cooks Beach. We wanted to go to Cathedral Cove Beach (very famous) but the trail down was closed due to a recent storm. It’s only accessible by train or boat tours, but even the boat tours weren’t letting people on due to the instability of the rocks.

other things to do

There are some great looking hikes in the area that we didn’t get to because of the time it takes to drive to the trailheads. The town of Hanai is cute, and we loved the Mercury Bay Estate Winery & Restaurant. A super nice couple runs it and they serve amazing food. The wine was great, too. :)

If you visit, leave a comment and let me know what you got up to. Until next time, xx.

K