Hot Water Beach

Hot Water Beach is on all the "To do" bucket lists for visiting New Zealand and we had to give it a go- well two go's actually! It is a long stretch of beach in the Coromandel (outside the small town Hahei) that has two areas where there are rocks jetting out towards the sea from a hill that produce active geothermals. The hot water from the hills/rocks heats up the sand that leads to the ocean. You visit during low tide to maximize the area of sand you can dig your own (COMMUNAL) hot tub. Our first visit was almost before low tide was over and not very successful in finding enough hot water to dig a large hole. Our second visit a few days later was much more successful and WOW was it crowded. Mike and I got our feet warmed up, but the boys got in the community spirit and helped with digging and creating hot tubs. It was the most crowded beach I have ever seen in NZ. If you dig in the right spot the water is so scorching hot it actually burns your feet! Amazing.

HOT!!!!