Photo by FutureKiwi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇳🇿 New Zealand · Hanmer Springs, Canterbury, South Island
Photo by FutureKiwi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇳🇿 New Zealand · Hanmer Springs, Canterbury, South Island
♨ Temperature
52°C
⛰ Altitude
338 m
⚗ pH
—
💧 TDS
—
🌊 Flow rate
—
📅 Established
1883
✓ Verified on 2026-07-28
Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa sits at 338 m elevation in a small Canterbury alpine town, first documented by Europeans in April 1859. Heated water rises under pressure through faults and fractures of the Hope Fault system and is currently drawn from a borehole roughly 70 m deep, discharging at about 52°C before being cooled by heat exchangers to 32–42°C for the 22 bathing pools. The water carries elevated chlorine, boron, sodium, potassium, lithium, strontium, and barium compared to other regional springs, and dissolved methane from the field is now harvested for electricity generation.
The springs, known in Māori tradition as 'Te Whakatakanga o te ngārahu o te ahi a Tamatea' ('where the ashes of Tamatea's fire lay'), reference an ancestor's legendary journey. European documentation dates to April 1859, with bathhouse development beginning in 1883–1884. The hexagonal and freshwater pools were built in 1978, followed by rock pools (1992) and sulphur pools (1999), growing the complex to 22 pools and four water slides.
Phone+64 3 315 0000
Websitewww.hanmersprings.co.nz/
Address42 Amuri Avenue, Hanmer Springs 7334, New Zealand