Top Things to do in Hawke's Bay Region
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The 10 Best Nature & Parks in Hawke's Bay Region, North Island
Discover the best top things to do in Hawke's Bay Region, New Zealand including Te Urewera National Park, Gannet Colony, Shine Falls, Te paerahi beach, Te Puia Hut Track and Mangatainoka Hot Springs, Bay Skate, Te Mata Park, Cape Kidnappers, Te Mata Peak, Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk.
Restaurants in Hawke's Bay Region
1. Te Urewera National Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 12 reviews
Immense and rugged national park features the largest forested wilderness in New Zealand's North Island.
Reviewed By Beinghana - Cusco, Peru
Please note that Te Urewera has not been a designated National Park since 2013. The Te Urewera Act 2014 recognises Te Urewera as it's own legal entity. "Te Urewera now owns itself, and exists for its own sake.The Tūhoe tribal authority, Te Uru Taumatua, provides operational management of Te Urewera and the Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk. The Department of Conservation provides support and assistance with former national park assets."
2. Gannet Colony
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 139 reviews
Reviewed By DayTrip769695
Our guide David was terrific as he drove us up and down very narrow roads using a 4 wheel drive vehicle to the top of an overlooking cliff where there were hundreds of gannets. The view of the bays and beaches were spectacular. David was very knowledgeable about the area and the environment. At the end we had q light tea with the best strawberries we ever had
3. Shine Falls
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 116 reviews
Reviewed By sallytd14 - Nelson, New Zealand
The Shine Falls are about 1.5 hour drive from Napier on the road to Gisborne. We were taking our time so you could get there a bit quicker than it took us. You park at a DOC carpark and have an hours walk ahead of you. You would need a reasonable fitness level but in saying that we bumped into several families who were walking with very young (2 year olds!!) that made the entire trip themselves - albeit that they took a bit longer than the one hour. The falls are spectacular and well worth the walk. The walk starts out through a working farm and then meanders into native bush. It is quite hard going in a few places but not what I'd call "challenging". Certainly a must do if you've never been there. The falls are about 60 meters high!!!!!! Fantastico!!!!
4. Te paerahi beach
5. Te Puia Hut Track and Mangatainoka Hot Springs
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 5 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip. See website for the price of accommodation on this track.
Reviewed By MaxNeumegen - Napier, New Zealand
This is a tramp. Not a walk. The weather can change. But hot pools at both ends. See DOC. or go with a tramping club. Is a long drive to the start at the Elm Trees. Can camp there. Know how to leave no trace and clean up if others have left a mess so you cannot be blamed for it. Hot pools at the start. about 3 hours trek to big DOC hut. about over an hour to hot pools. can tent camp there. Is a total clean air zone, no smoking. check about fire permits. must have camp fire skills and know how to fully put out and leave no trace, or you could get a bill of millions of dollars if you lite a fire and a fire spread, whether or not it was your fire that started it. good place for families and an over night camp.
6. Bay Skate
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 9 reviews
Reviewed By DebsH200 - Wellington, New Zealand
Unlike most skate parks you find, Bay Skate does charge you to use it - I believe it was $8 for our son to go in. Would happily take him back again! Great areas for parents to watch their kids, a really large park and areas for different abilities too which is fantastic! Well maintained and cared for - there is no graffiti and I believe you can hire skateboards and scooters from their store too. Fully fenced which offers a great sense of security too. Our son absolutely loved his time there!
7. Te Mata Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 44 reviews
Reviewed By 565francisb - Sydney, Australia
Te Mata Park is a must-visit if you are spending time in Hawke's Bay. It's rich in Maori cultural tradition and history. Well-signposted walks and mountain-bike tracks, coupled with magnificent views to all corners of the compass.
8. Cape Kidnappers
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 329 reviews
Reviewed By peter_minchin - Motueka, New Zealand
Our trip out ot Cape Kidnappers was the highlight of our visit to the Napier area, A very good guide, comfortable bus and the birds were wonderful.
9. Te Mata Peak
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,684 reviews
Reviewed By JMT_NZ - Auckland Central, New Zealand
Te Mata Peak is simply stunning. I've driven to the peak several times and it's a great experience to take in the wider Hawkes Bay. If you drive right to the top then it's suitable for people with impaired mobility although they need to be able to walk up a short steep gradient for the best views from the trig.
10. Lake Waikaremoana Great Walk
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 34 reviews
Always check the website for changes that might affect your trip. See website for the price of accommodation on this track
Reviewed By AlisiaTki
The Lake Waikaremoana walk was amazing! We did a three day, 2 night walk in April 2021 – definitely recommend 3 days, as the alternative (4 days, 3 nights) means you would likely have one very short day – only a couple of hours walk. We started by parking at the Onepoto entrance and stayed in Panekire Hut for the first night, followed by Marauiti Hut for the second and booked a water taxi to go from Whananui Hut to Onepoto. Onepoto start: We drove just over 2 hours from Gisborne in the morning. The roads closer to the Lake are just straight gravel so beware for less sturdy cars. I recommend just driving straight to Onepoto rather than parking at the information centre and getting a water taxi – saves money and most people seem to do the same. We did hear stories that the Hopuruahine landing carpark is notorious for break ins but Onepoto seemed to be fine. Just make sure you don’t leave anything valuable there. First day – Onepoto to Panekire. This is a tough day – almost continuous, steep uphill climb the entire time. Views are incredible and there are numerous ledges around the place to take some pretty cool photos with the lake. As with the entire Lake Waikaremoana walk, the track is covered in tree roots so you need to be careful with your footing and definitely recommend hiking boots if possible. We did this day in four hours and arrived to Panekire just after lunchtime. Panekire hut: This is definitely a more basic, traditional DOC hut and one of the most popular for hikers to stay in when walking either direction. It is not as bad as all the reviews say - just expect your basic benches, tables, sleeping areas and relatively close quarters as it will probably be full. The water taps inside the hut were not working when we stayed so everyone used the outside tank. Although there are signs that you must boil, we drank the water straight (colour and smell was fine) and it was all good. The views from this hut are great and well worth the sunset/sunrise but if I were to do it again, I would recommend just stopping for long lunch/break before continuing down the ridge to Waiopaoa Hut. Second day – Panekire Hut to Marauiti Hut: This was another challenging day – took us about 7 ½ hours (including the 1 hr return track to Korokoro falls and various breaks in between). The track from Panekire down the ridge to Waiopaoa hut was significantly shorter than we expected. The signs estimate 4 hours and we did it in about 2 hours. Waipaoa hut is also MUCH MUCH nicer than Panekire – more spacious eating and sleeping areas, has swimming spots and large grassy areas. For this reason and the fact that it only takes about 2ish hours to climb down from Panekire, I would probably just stop for lunch at Panekire on the first day and then continuing to Waiopoa for the first night. After some pre-hike research, I found that the maps DOC provides in terms of elevation are not so accurate. It shows pretty flat terrain after the ridge which is not the case at all. Like others have said, there are definitely long flat parts, but equally, lots of intense up and down hills going on. We expected that and so thankfully were not surprised but we can imagine it would be a shock for some. The weather was pretty drizzly this day and so there were a lot of muddy areas and slips that you needed to take extra caution with. Marauiti Hut: This is another basic DOC hut – nothing fancy but definitely not bad. The water here had a green tinge to it so we did decide to heed the boiling water signs this time. Another alternative if you don’t need water immediately is to wait for when you pass Waiharuru Hut as we found that that had fine drinking water. Although Marauiti is perfectly fine to stay in, again I would recommend continuing 2 more hours to Waiharuru Hut. This is the fanciest one on the walk and has huuuuge eating areas and sleeping spaces. We had a long lunch break here on the third day and wished we had stayed there for the night. Third day – Marauiti to Whananui water taxi exit: Again, this is not a flat day. There are around 3 significant uphill and downhill climbs – 2 of which are not even shown on the DOC maps. However this was the easiest day of them all. And particularly if you choose to stay at Waiharuru hut overnight you will find it to be a very short walking day to the end. Don’t worry about finding the water taxi exit, there is a huge sign on the track pointing towards a flat area near the lake where you can wait. As the water taxi no longer goes to the Hopuruahine landing because of water level issues, the new pick up spot is just before the Whananui Hut. Previous reviews had us feeling a bit nervous about whether we would be picked up but it was fine. Taxi arrived right on time at 2:30pm. Since there was a big group of us waiting (around 20 people), one group took a short water taxi followed by a land taxi back to Onepoto, and another group took the water taxi the entire way to Onepoto. Some people were waiting at the water taxi exit who hadn’t booked and were hoping to catch a ride – this is very risky in my opinion as the taxis plan for the booked number. As we had booked, we were the first to go and so I’m still not sure how it worked out for those people who didn’t book. It is a bit difficult to plan ahead and get hold of the water taxi people – I called about 7 times across the span of one day and the line was "busy" the entire time. I also emailed with no response. Luckily another person in my travelling group managed to get a call back and received booking confirmations by email. Just be persistent – I heard from other groups that called neighbouring DOC information centres to try and sort the taxi. Once you have booked, there is nothing to worry about. The water taxi people are lovely and have a lot of local knowledge. The confirmation email does stipulate that if the weather conditions are too bad, they may not be able to get out at the agreed time and you should keep waiting on the flat lakeside area until 4:30pm as they will keep trying to come out if there are gaps in the weather. If they don’t manage to get out to you, then they say you should be prepared to stay a night at Whananui Hut and try to catch the taxi the next day. All in all this was an incredible walk. Great experience with a large group of 6 people with differing fitness levels. Just remember the usual things: bring cards and/or a book as there is a lot of downtime, bring torches/candles, hiking boots are preferred particularly for bad weather, weather can change quickly so be prepared for hot sun and then wind/rain the next day, and the recommended DOC day routes/huts are very popular and not often the best ones to stay at.
