Building a Spa at Hot Water Beach

If you’ve been reading our blog, you know of our love of hot water. But our recent “spa” experience was a bit out of the ordinary.

We took an overnight break from our duties in Auckland to visit the Coromandel Peninsula — the arm of land that creates the eastern edge of the Hauraki Gulf that shelters the Auckland area.

On the east coast of the Coromandel is Hot Water Beach – a place piping hot water seeps up from the bowels of the earth through the sands at low tide. For a few hours around the turn of the tide each day, tourists flock to the beach to dig holes into the sand and create their own, temporary hot water spas.

We joined the throng on a Saturday afternoon a few hours before low tide. We quickly realized that the seeping hot water only came up at a certain place on the beach. The challenge was to find a place to dig — and then to find a way to bring enough cold seawater to cool down the water that came up! We didn’t succeed in creating a relaxing place to soak, but it was fun to watch the tactics of those attempting it!

Below are pictures of some of the other places we enjoyed during our quick trip to the Coromandel.

Mt. Paku (an extinct volcano) looms beautifully over the town of Tairua on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula

These pigs have become a well-known roadside attraction — regularly stopping traffic as they cross the road at feeding time!

Cathedral Cove and nearby beaches.