Hotwater Springs - Low Tide — Attraction in Waikato

Living in Whitianga, I have visited here countless times since 1983. It has never disappointed. Here is some invaluable advice:

Timing is EVERYTHING! You need to be in this spot 2 hours either before or after low tide. Don't arrive at Hot Water Beach at this time as it may take time to find parking (if peak season) then walk to this spot along the beach.

Do you need a shovel? Yes you do. But if you don't have one, don't dispair. Someone is probably already here with one - either ask nicely to borrow theirs, or wait for them to vacate their hot pool to take it over. You can also rent a shovel from the campground if you want to have your own to dig.

The water from the hot spring is HOT. I mean, it's all in the name really! Be careful with small children as it can burn their young skin quite badly.

The surf here is quite intense and there are rips present. Keep all children in reach and in your view. If you are not a confident swimmer, don't venture too far that you can't reach the bottom easily.

Toilets are available but at the carpark so it's a bit of a trek back and forth. Visit the toilet first before heading out here with small...

A bit of a tourist trap but the premise is you can dig a pool on the beach at low tide and it will fill with hot/warm water from an underground geothermal spring. This isn't the only beach like it in NZ but it is the most well known so you'll be digging with hordes of other people but it's a bit of fun, especially with kids, to try and get a warm spot. The hot water is quite far down so the closer to the water you are the less sand you have to dig. Of course the incoming tide will make short work of any pools you've dug as it returns. Shovels can be purchased or hired at many places nearby and are somewhat essential if you're in early, otherwise you can help someone reinforce their pool for a dip as places where you can reasonably get hot water are fairly limited to two patches either side of the rocks in the middle of the beach. Hot water can be found further up the beach (and safer from the tides) but you'd have to do an almighty amount of digging to get down that far. The beach itself is notoriously treacherous so I wouldn't swim here as there are many other, safer, nicer options available in...

When visiting New Zealand, our friend insisted that we absolutely must go to Hot Water beach. So we did - and we loved it. We arrived around 8:30 in the morning, and the beach was already full of people (in late March). The sun was shining, people were out surfing, and it was absolutely beautiful. From the parking lot, you need to turn left when walking towards the ocean to find the place where the hot water is. We had brought a small shovel, but renting a more sizeable spade would have been beneficial. Even with little effort, you can find the pockets of hot water (sometimes too hot!). Finding the perfect mixture of the hot geothermal water with the cold ocean water is the fun of being here. We arrived 1 hour before low tide - which worked well for experiencing the hot water. We heard +/- 2 hours from low tide was best. The beach was very clear and had amenities such as toilets in the parking lot. We are really glad we came here and if we returned, would definitely...