Thought I should start sharing some local travel ideas and cool places to holiday in NZ, being the pandemic and all. Although it is nearly a year since I visited, Hahei is one of the most underrated and beautiful places I have visited and possibly be the best place to stay in the Coromandel so I thought it was well worth sharing why to go and what I did.
Me and Lucas and my mum and her partner John visited Hahei over a beautiful long weekend in February 2020. We flew up to Auckland and then used a hire car to drive over to Hahei which takes about two and a half hours. Being based in Wellington means that to get there you need about 3 to 4 days to make it worth it. Having 4 days really made the trip worth it and allowed us to take advantage of off-peak flight prices.
Hahei is a sleepy little beach town with not a whole lot apart from a cafe, a small shop and a stunning strip of white sand and turquoise water. The town has lots of holiday rental property and makes for the perfect base to have a weekend at the beach as well as visiting the nearby Cathedral Cove, and other parts of the Coromandel peninsula.
This area feels a world away from other parts of New Zealand. It is almost like a little slice of Thailand with the craggy rocks emerging from the turquoise sea and the perfect white sand. We even saw Mantarays swimming at the beach. Pristine!
Where did we stay?
We used the old faithful Airbnb and stayed in a lovely rental with a balcony overlooking the town. There are lots of options for rentals in Hahei so you are bound to find something to suit your needs on Airbnb or Bookabach.
If you haven’t used Airbnb before, check my link for $50 off your first stay. You could stay anywhere in the town really, its small enough to be able to walk to the beach really easily.
What did we eat?
We mainly had BBQs on the deck at our AirBnb and grabbed the supplies from the local Four Square in the town. The Hahei Beach Cafe in town is a great spot for breakfast and coffee and The Pour House pub does really yummy pizzas and is a great stop for after you have hiked back from Cathedral Cove.
We also visited the Mercury Bay Estate Winery at Cooks Beach, about a half-hour drive from Hahei and this was a nice place for lunch and a glass of rose.
Visiting Cathedral Cove
Cathedral Cove is about an hour’s walk from Hahei and you just head there via a track at the entrance to the Hahei beach. It is a really nice walk with a few hills but really pleasant with great views over the ocean. If you prefer there are also Park and Ride buses that can take you some of the way there and/or back and boat tours too.
The beach at Cathedral Cove is stunning, white sand and turquoise waters – there were probably a few too many people there for my liking but otherwise, it was lovely to spend an afternoon sunbathing, swimming, enjoying the view and napping in the shade of spectacularly dramatic cliff backdrop.
Not so Hot Water Beach
Now, this may be controversial, but I would say to avoid Hot Water Beach unless it’s not a weekend and it’s probably better during the winter. Hot Water Beach is famous because there is a hot spring running underneath the sand so that if you dig a hole in the sand, you can make yourself your own little spa pool to chill in. This is actually quite remarkable but when the spot is full of tourists all crammed next to each other (see photo) the charm is a little lost!
Clevedon – A Hidden Gem
We decided to stay our last night in the Coromandel a bit closer to Auckland to catch our flight with ease. We chose to stay near a little town called Clevedon and the Airbnb was really worth a mention. It was a couple of private rooms in a family home and was in the most lovely setting with its own private beach and views over Waiheke island. We only had a short time here but I would really recommend it when passing through and the family were such friendly hosts.
We also had a really nice meal in the local pub The Corner Kitchen and Bar.
All in all, the Coromandel was one of the most enjoyable and laid back areas of New Zealand that I have visited and I am going back in Feb this year to relive the magic with more time.
Thanks for reading and come back soon.
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Peace
Josie x