Kawhia Hot Springs (Te Puia)

Kawhia Hot Springs, also known as Te Puia Hot Springs, are natural geothermal springs that bubble up through black sand on Ocean Beach, a short walk over dunes from a parking area on Te Puia Road, about 4 km west of Kawhia village on the Waikato coast. The water emerges at around 45°C and is accessible only within about two hours either side of low tide, when visitors dig their own pools in the sand where it mixes with the cold Tasman Sea. It offers a wilder, more remote alternative to the better-known Hot Water Beach in the Coromandel, with no formal facilities and free entry.