Beach Vacationing in the Coromandel

At some point during our trip we decided that it would be really nice to finish off with some relaxing beach days before heading home to SF. We hadn’t visited the Coromandel, a large peninsula on the North Island, at the beginning of our trip because of both time constraints and weather. But we had heard good things about the beaches from both our tour book and Dave, the Dartmouth alum we met in Tongariro, so we did want to make it there. Given its proximity to Auckland, and the full swing of summer at the end of the trip, we thought it would be the perfect last stop.

We booked a beachside accommodation in the small town of Hahei (with difficulty because of not planning far enough ahead) and were very happy to find out that it was the perfect place to spend a few days relaxing. We just had to walk out our door and over a small dune to get to the beach, and it was a beach with lovely sand, perfect swimming and casual body surfing waves, a bay spotted with islands for a nice view, and several interesting walks nearby. Plus, the weather was warm and sunny with just a slight breeze, and the water was warm enough to enjoy (one of us lasted a little longer each time than the other though – I’ll let you guess who).

Besides lounging on Hahei Beach, we also took an evening walk up to Te Pare Point, spent a morning hiking to Cathedral Cove, and ventured to Hot Water Beach, another Coromandel beach known for having, you guessed it, hot water springs right at the beach.

We had a really nice three days, spending a lot of time reminiscing about how great our time in New Zealand has been, and came away understanding why North Islanders flock to the Coromandel during their summer vacations.