Beautiful Beaches of The Coromandel

Cathedral Cove and Hahei – New Zealand

One of my favourite stops on our New Zealand road trip was in The Coromandel Peninsula on the east coast of the North Island. We stayed in a charming accommodation called The Church in the small settlement of Hahei – the perfect base for soaking up the local beach life.

The Church was one of the nicest accommodations we stayed at during our time in New Zealand as we were on a budget, yet the prices were very reasonable here. We stayed in the Garden Studios which included a private bathroom, basic kitchen facilities such as a fridge, kettle and microwave, as well as a veranda where we could sit and enjoy the beautiful garden right outside.

Hahei itself was very quiet and pretty but because we were planning our road trip a couple of days in advance, as opposed to 100% winging it, we unfortunately were only able to stay in Hahei for one night, so we didn’t get to enjoy the pristine white sands of Hahei Beach as much as we would have liked. AND I made friends with a dog on that beach!

Anyway, we did however visit two of the most well-known tourist spots on The Coromandel – Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach.

Cathedral Cove

We visited Cathedral Cove during the late afternoon. We drove to the car park from our accommodation and then took the 45 minute walk from there, taking in the stunning sea views and saying hello to the cows in the field as we passed. On the walk back from the beach I even witnessed (from a respectable distance I might add) two people getting engaged! Awww!

It is sensible to wear trainers or walking shoes on the way there and then change into your flip flops or go barefoot once your feet touch the sand.

We arrived at Cathedral Cove as the sun was setting and the tide was coming in to slowly fill the arch between the two beaches at Cathedral Cove with sea water. We didn’t stay too long as we didn’t want to trek back in the dark but it was really peaceful down there.

Unfortunately there wasn’t a glorious sunset, so no instagram-worthy sunset pictures, but Cathedral Cove is worth the walk regardless. Maybe it was the blue skies and sunshine but Cathedral Cove and Hahei were so pretty it makes me want to cry when I see our beaches back home!

If you’re in the North Island then you must pay a visit to Hahei and linger a little longer than I did. Hahei is around a two and a half hour drive from Auckland.

What’s the prettiest beach you’ve been to? And if you liked this, stay tuned for my post about Hot Water Beach!