The best thing we did on the Coromandel with 2 young kids. Make sure you check the tides 2 hours either side of low tide. Take your own shovel or just sit with someone else in their hot pool.
We stayed for hours and could have stayed the whole day if the tide didn't smash our hot pool down.
FREE and such an epic thing to do with a family!
Went in the morning of a cold but fine morning (some wind, but near clear skies).
Had a fantastic time with the beach to ourselves but can see how people can underprepare so here's some tips.
1. There is a sign in the carpark with a red arrow to show where to dig.
2. Take your own shovel (and bucket) else you can rent one from the shop in the carpark
3. The carpark is $4/hr to park, but you can get street parking outside it for free if you're early enough
4. It's best to go at mid-low tide
5. The spring water is HOT - like 50 degrees so it's good to let it sit for a bit, or mix it with some sea water to get the best pool.
Even during peak Winter we managed to have a great time and were in our pool for over an hour! If you go early you might even get the whole beach to yourself like us!
I have been to this beach several times. This time it was in July. Now you might have thought it would be cold but it was a blue sky day and sunny, so it was quite warm for winter. Around 15 degrees C. But we wore long sleeve tops over our bathers just in case.
So, you have to arrive here at low tide. We approached a large rock on one end of the beach, where we could see others in their self-dug pools. The first pool I dug was cold. So I walked on the sand and at several points the sand was hot, boiling under my feet. We dug our hole there. We had a spade, and massed the sand at the edge of our hole patting it down strengthening the boundary. The sand was very hot to handle. We dug a trench to the cold pool I'd dug earlier, so the cold water mixed with the hot. Then we sat in it for a very long time. Oh the luxury, like a hot bath. It was great as there were lots of interesting people around to talk to. We also gave them advice, as by this time we considered ourselves hot pool engineers. It was a lot of fun, we loved it.
I loved this beach. My hotel (Grand Metcure Puka Park Resort) in Pauanui gave me a little spade and off I went to the beach. Winter is a fantastic time to dig a hole and sit in the hot water. Also, there was only about 20 people there. I hear there can be hundreds of people lining up to sit in the hot water in summer. The water is so hot that winter is the perfect time to do this. It is also free. Put this one on your bucket list folks!!
You need to find out when the tide is low, because that is the time to visit this beach. We rented shovels from our hotel for 5 dollars and then we dug a hole here to sit in. We had to try several different places because the water was to hot in the first ones. Although it was winter and a little cold in the wind we were warm soaking in this hot pool of ours. Fun experience!
