Purangi Regional Reserve — Attraction in North Island

Purangi regional reserve or beach/bay is a hidden gem in NZ. It is overlooked by Cooks beach and Cathedral Cove in Coromandel. It is located near Cooks beach just few kilometres away tucked in the corner. The Cooks beach sea water goes inland thru Purangi so it is very calm and since it is hidden it never overcrowded. You can also do freedom camping for self contained vehicles only. It has toilet and BBQ facilities with plenty of parking and shade. You have to go here someday and only 15 mins drive from Cathedral Cove. Highly recommended. More pictures added after a 2nd...

Loved our finale couple of nights in the Whitianga area of the beautiful Coromandel and explored every nook and cranny we could. We did the Whitianga Passenger Ferry crossing and were planning to walk down to Cook Bay but a bit too far so went back and got the car and drove the 40kms around here to Cooks Bay and the Purangi River Mouth. Aside from the lovely beach and safe river mouth swimming the short walk to see the Captain Cook monument was a real bonus....

Very quite, the camp site is in a secluded-non public area with only 6-7 camper vans capacity. Perfect location for a free camp site. We want to originally stay at the cathedral cove camp site but couldn't get a spot, and this is totally a nice replacement. Only 15 mins away from cathedral cove, the site is in much better environment and also get a decent view (altho can't beat cove's view). The camp site is by the lake, so u still can wake up with a view!...