Whitianga/New Zealand
Hot Water Beach
Dig your own thermal pool in the sand at low tide on the Coromandel coast.
Krzysztof Golik
- Bathing
- Outdoor
At Hot Water Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula, geothermal water rises through the sand at the shoreline. For roughly two hours either side of low tide, bathers dig shallow pools with spades and sit in hot water while the Pacific breaks a few metres away.
Balnevia view
Why visit
It is thermal bathing at its most elemental and entirely free: a hole in the sand, hot water from below, cold surf alongside.
Recommendations
Hotels nearby
Explore places to stay near Hot Water Beach.
The water
Thermal water
- Source
- Beach fissure springs
- Mineralisation
- Geothermal water rising through beach sand
- Character
- Water reaching as much as 64°C surfaces along a fault at the shoreline and is exposed only around low tide.
History
The springs emerge from a fault above the beach and have long been known to local Māori and, later, to Coromandel settlers. The beach became a national fixture in the twentieth century, and spades are now rented from the nearby café and shops.
Practical information
Timing is everything — check the low-tide table before travelling. The water in places is hot enough to scald, so test before digging in, and the beach itself has strong rip currents and is not a safe swimming beach.
Getting there
About 12 km southeast of Whitianga via Hahei; a paid car park serves the beach.
Location
Related places
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