Hot Water Beach

World famous New Zealand beach near Whitianga where unique meets a whole lot of fun! Join the throngs of visitors having a dig in the sand to release the naturally heated mineral water into personally sculpted sand hot pools.

If you are not familiar with what all of the fuss is about then you should seriously grab a spade (or hire one from one of the local shops), check out the low tides. Aim for two hours either side of low tide and get on digging by the rocks not far from the southern Hot Water Beach car park.

You will also be well rewarded with the delight of hot thermal water springing up through the sand into your personally constructed spa pool (of a sandy sort). If you're lucky and have an ideal sense of timing you may even happen across an empty pool or more likely a friendly group willing to share their thermal pool.

It's a pretty sublime experience to sit in one of these pools and to gaze out to the Pacific Ocean which is seriously only a hop skip and jump away if you need to cool off. Hot Water Beach is a great place to swim, boogie board or surf. If you decide to take a dip in the water there can be very strong undertows at this beach so caution should be taken and swim between the flags under the watchful eye of the local surf life saving club.

Some visitors to the beach undertake their pool digging with a sense of order and structure, while others just get into it with unbridled gusto. If you're lucky and have an ideal sense of timing you may happen across an empty pool or more likely a friendly group willing to share their thermal pool.

It's estimated that over 700,000 people visit this unique thermal beach spot each year. You could say Hot Water Beach is the United Nations beach hub in the Southern Hemisphere!