4 nights/5 days relaxed or 3 nights / 4 days

Get the best of both worlds on this short road trip itinerary in the Waikato: From one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist attractions to one of the countries most hidden gems. From glow worm caves to a hot water beach you didn’t know existed. From Waitomo to Kawhia. 

Where and what is Kawhia? - I hear you ask? It’s a teeny tiny town on the west coast of the Waikato, kind of one harbour south of surfer’s heaven Raglan. What makes it charming is the fact that it’s the same sleepy town it was in the 60s and that it hasn’t changed much since. And what makes it even more special is the fact that somehow, it managed to keep the secret of Kawhia Hot Water Beach! A beach much like Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel that hardly anyone knows about! 

Plus, find out what all the buzz is about as you explore the underground world of the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves on the first part of your journey. If you’re like me, you’ve heard so much about the caves you’re starting to wonder if it really lives up to its hype or if it’s just a tourist trap…Only one way to find out, right?! 

I wrote down this Waitomo to Kawhia Hot Water Beach itinerary with the number of nights we stayed in each place. If you’re tight on time, though, you can easily cut out a night or maybe even make it a 2-night/3 days itinerary (that might need some more pre-planning and pre-booking, though).

By the way: You can find even more New Zealand travel itineraries here!

Road trip itinerary summary

Day 1: Drive to Waitomo
Day 2: Waitomo Caves
Day 3: Drive Waitomo to Kawhia
Day 4: Explore Kawhia (Hot Water Beach)
Day 5: Home time or continue road trip

Day 1: Drive to Waitomo

From Auckland: 2.5h, 190km, | 118 mi
From Hamilton: 1h, 68km | 42mi

Relaxed drive from wherever you’re located to the Waitomo Caves. From Auckland, this will take you about 2.5 hours depending on traffic and about an hour from Hamilton. 

Ōtorohanga is a great town for a quick break. If you’ve got some time, you could visit the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House and see some kiwi birds. Or browse through Haddad Menswear (they also have a small selection of women’s clothing). The owners John and Karam are extremely passionate about their products and love a good yarn. 

Once you arrived in Waitomo and checked into your accommodation, head over to the iSite for some info on walks and other things to do in Waitomo and, if you haven’t already, to book your glowworm tour. 

The best (and as far as I know only) place for eating out and a drink is Tomo Bar & Eatery.

Where to stay in Waitomo Caves: 

We stayed at the Waitomo Top 10 campground. They have a range of accommodation types from tent sites to self-contained cabins, a pool and a playground. 

Another lovely Waitomo accommodation is Waitomo Caves Guest Lodge, a cosy B&B with a beautiful garden and exceptional hosts.

Day 2: Visit the Waitomo Caves

On your To-Do List for today is the main reason people from all over the world visit Waitomo: To see the glow worms! While, yes, you can see glow worms outside of Waitomo in a multitude of places all over New Zealand (for example on a Lake Karapiro night kayak tour, up in Northland, in Rotorua, in Te Anau on the South Island and other places), the Waitomo Caves glow worms are by far the most famous ones. 

And it’s easy to see why. The glow worms love dark, damp places and calm spots and the unique caves system in Waitomo is just that.  

But which Waitomo glowworm tour to choose? The number of glowworm tours and operators is almost overwhelming and all operators have their unique way of guiding their tour. 

We chose to visit the most popular glow worm tour with a double ticket to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves (the one with the little boat ride) and Ruakuri Caves as I was curious if the tour lives up to its reputation. You can read my Waitomo Caves review here to see how we liked it. 

For the more adventurous among you, you could do blackwater rafting (tubing on the underwater river through the caves past the glowworms and down small waterfalls) or proper caving, even including its own in-cave zipline! 

Once I’ve done a few more of the tours, I’ll be able to give you a bit of a comparison, but in the meantime, read my review about the ‘classical’ Waitomo Glow Worm Cave or ask the staff at the Waitomo iSite for recommendations. 

Day 3: Drive from Waitomo to Kawhia (Hot Water Beach) 

1.5h pure drive time (but take more time), 85km | 53mi

There are really two options to get from Waitomo to Kawhia but I’ll tell you about the off-the-beaten-track option as it was my favourite. And also because it wouldn’t make it a loop if you took the regular highway and I do love a good loop. 

The more scenic route from Waitomo to Kawhia is the one past Te Anga. Coming from Waitomo Township, you drive past the most popular of the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and just keep going on this road. 

After a short while, you’ll see a sign for Marokopa Falls. Stop at the parking lot and take the very short and easy walk to the falls lookout. The Marokopa Falls are super scenic, the water tumbling onto big rocks at the bed make a great photo op. 

The next stop on the scenic road is Mangapohue Natural Bridge, another short walk on a walkway along a stream to an impressive rock arch. It’s really more of an arch than a bridge in my opinion as you can’t walk over the structure. However, you can go up the stairs and get close to the arch. From here, you have the choice to either continue on the walking trail or turn around to walk back to the car.

By the way: We’ve been told there are glowworms at Mangapohue Natural Bridge, it would probably also make a lovely nighttime walk. 

Driving on, you can stop at Toi Toi Coffee in Te Anga for your caffeine fix (check online to see if they’re open). 

Take a quick detour off the backroad to go even backroad-ier (surely that’s a word!) to the tiny town of Marokopa Beach. There’s not much there apart from a pretty black sand beach and with some luck, you can watch the locals fish off the beach. 

Back on the ‘main road’, the street meanders its way through the countryside and along the water. It’s likely you won’t see any other people or cars for ages, other than driving through tiny towns and past typical Kiwiana baches (holiday homes). 

Once you’re in Kawhia, ask at your accommodation about the Kawhia beach tide times. You don’t want to miss out on digging yourself a hot pool on the beach just because you didn’t check the tides. 

Kawhia accommodation:

Frankly, there is not much outside of campgrounds. You should book ahead to make sure you have a place to stay for the night. We stayed at Kawhia Beachside S-cape Holiday Park and loved it! 

You get the best spots if you book a tent site as you’ll get the first row to the water. There’s a modern communal kitchen and living room with pool table and TV and clean showers and toilets. 

The cabins are different sizes, self-contained with kitchen and bathrooms and some of them are waterfront. 

When the tide is in, you can hire a kayak and go for a paddle from the campsite’s boat ramp. Keep an eye on the tide, though. It’s easy to get stuck in the middle of the canal and having to drag the kayak through the mud back to the shore…

Day 4: Kawhia Hot Water Beach and Kawhia Museum

Kawhia is an awesome, tiny, sleepy town that still looks pretty much like it did in the 60s. There’s not lots to do other than to actively slow down. There’s a cafe, one general store, one petrol station, one pub and a tiny museum and that’s pretty much it. Nothing indicates that, once upon a time, Kawhia was a bustling little town with a regular boat service from and to Onehunga (South Auckland).

Grab yourself a coffee and a scone, stroll over to the pier to watch the locals fish or weave harakeke ketes (flax baskets) in the park under a tree. 

Definitely take some time to explore the cute little Kawhia Museum. It’s run by volunteers, so it might take a few tries to catch them open. It’s worth the wait, though. You’ll learn more about Kawhia’s history as a trade port, the discovery of the fossil of a giant penguin (we’re talking human-size here!) and other regional taonga. 

Then, of course, there’s the main attraction, Kawhia Hot Water Beach! Unlike its sibling over in the Coromandel, this hot water beach has remained a secret that mainly the locals nearby knew about. Recently, it’s become a bit more popular but still nothing compared with Coromandel Hot Water Beach.

The principle is the same, however. The hot springs are hidden under the sand at Kawhia Beach. You’ve got 2 hours either side of low tide to find the spot where the hot water bubbles through the sand, dig yourself a pool with the spade you brought along, sit into the warm water and hope it’s not going to get too hot under your bum. If you’re lucky like us and low tide coincides with sunset, you can watch the sun go down from your hot pool (unlike the Coromandel on the other side of the coast where you could watch the sunrise).

Visiting Kawhia Hot Water Beach during the day can get seriously hot. To get to Kawhia Beach, you’ll have to cross a sand dune from the parking lot. Being on the North Island’s west coast, the sand is dark or black, meaning not only the thermal water is hot but the sand will be scorching in the sun, too. Wear proper footwear, jandals (flip flops) won’t do it! Believe me, we tried and it was not fun… 

Day 5: Drive back to Auckland, Hamilton or continue your road trip

Today is the day to drive back home or to continue your road trip itinerary through New Zealand. 

But don’t leave the region without a stop for pie at the quirky Ōpārau Roadhouse. The general store owners are local legends and are always keen on a yarn! They’ve been thinking of selling the roadhouse for years but so far, they’re still here and delighting every passing traveller. 

Where to next?

If you’re one of the lucky ones who have more time to travel, you can drive on to Rotorua, Taupo or Taranaki. Have a look at one of our other New Zealand itineraries for more inspiration. 

If you’re looking for a personalised itinerary to suit your travel time frame, I can help! I love creating travel itineraries for other people (and myself) and have done so for the past twenty-odd years. Message me your questions!
Also have a look at our sister site Weekend Getaways NZ for more NZ travel inspo and getaway packages.