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The Cathedral Cove Tour With A Difference

The Coromandel

The pristine beaches, native bush and relaxed vibe makes The Coromandel one of the top ‘Must Do’ destinations in New Zealand. You can choose to explore the Coromandel and partake in some of the many great activies on offer or sit back and relax, soaking in the beauty of your surrounds.

To get to the stunning Coromandel Peninsula there are a few different routes. If you are coming from Auckland there is even a ferry option over to Coromandel Town. Flying is the quickest way to get to Whitianga, and the beautiful birds eye views are ones you don’t want to miss. Driving takes about 2 and a half hours from Auckland, Tauranga and Hamilton. The roads are windy however the scenery is spectacular and there are many beaches and towns to stop in along the way.

Cathedral Cove and the marine reserve is a main highlight and the best way to experience this is on The Glass Bottom Boat. The perspective you get from the water looking back at the volcanic coastline is beautiful. If you can, the walk is also worth it.

Other things to do are:

  • Hot Water Beach
  • New Chums Beach
  • Shakespheare’s Cliff Viewing
  • Bush walks such as the Kauri Grove
  • The Coromandel Coastal Walkway
  • Explore the Pinnacles

For a more detailed list of things to do visit The Coromandel website.

Things to do in Whitianga and the Mercury Bay

The hub of the Coromandel is Mercury Bay. Whitianga is the main village, with plenty on offer. Walk the beachfront path into the main street to get your boat tour or find your spot on the beach for the day. Along with awesome retail shops and spas, there are great beach cafes with amazing coffee and cakes, restaurants with delicious wood fired pizzas and incredible seafood. Here you will find it all.

Other villages to visit while in Mercury Bay are:

  • Hot Water Beach
  • Hahei
  • Cooks Beach
  • Kuaotunu
  • Matarangi
  • Whangapoua
  • Coromandel Town

Little bit of history

The Mercury Bay has a rich and colourful history that is just waiting to be explored, from early colonial days to one of the oldest marine reserves in New Zealand, it’s not to be missed. Take a look below at some of our local historic spots.

Cooks Beach – Where Captain Cook officially discovered New Zealand
Hahei – Maori Pa site at the south end of the beach
Buffalo Beach – The site of a shipwreck from the 1800’s

Visit the Mercury Bay Museum if you want to find out more. The perfect rainy day activity!

Marie-Christine G
Marie-Christine G
2020-11-30
Fun way to see the coast! Had an awesome ride-a bit of wind and swell! Haha! Super captain! So awesome to get in close to the coves, caves and shore-see all the fish in the reserve. Well worth it! You might have to hang on! Haha!! Reslly professional, safe and well organised!
MadMaxNewZealand
MadMaxNewZealand
2020-11-29
Good Day Out Most enjoyable and informative trip around the area, seeing Cathedral Cove and various caves and blowholes. Seeing the snapper in their habitat was great, and seeing the destruction of habitat by kina was concerning... The Marine Reserve is a good thing. Went out with a nice group of people. Steve and Julian were our guides - Typical kiwi guys, but felt some of Steve’s comments were a bit on the edge of appropriateness before we left the harbour...
Vivienne M
Vivienne M
2020-11-27
A very enjoyable experience On Mon 23 Nov we ( 2 couples) rang to see if we could book a trip. The weather forecast was not wonderful and the company was going to cancel its trips for the day. As it was still very calm they kindly decided that the morning trip would run and we had a very enjoyable morning seeing the sights and all the fish. We were well looked after by Cam and he shared his extensive knowledge of the area with us. The fact that the boat had a glass bottom with great viewing was a distinct plus. These boats are also covered to ensure that we would not get either wet in times of rain or sunburned. We would definitely recommend this company.
manounebosc
manounebosc
2020-11-20
Recommended Amazing tour to see cathedral cove, some caves and beaches. The staff is professional and friendly. Thanks a lot
Anirishkiwi
Anirishkiwi
2020-11-19
Great activity Cam our skipper was superb. Great mix of casual, knowledge and fun. Nice calm day. Enjoyed our dip at the end of the cruise and got some great shots of a part of our beautiful country. Thoroughly worthwhile. Thanks Cam you do a great job.
Paula
Paula
2020-11-18
amazing tour - recommended ! we went out for an few hours in the afternoon. we had an amazing time; the crew were friendly helpful and informative; we learnt so much about the area and got to see parts of the coast, that we hadn't seen before. highly recommend this tour
Marcus
Marcus
2020-11-14
Amazing, Well priced, Good for children 3 and above. An amazing good quality well priced experience. Very professional staff and operation from booking to end. Highly recommend. Cam and Kate our guides were brilliant and very knowledgeable. Such a beautiful part of the world where being on the water gave us a different perspective especially looking through the glass bottom of the boat and seeing the marine life. My children 3 and 6 absolutely Loved it too. Thanks Guys
Robyn Low
Robyn Low
2020-11-06
Great trip to see above & below water A great 2 hour trip exploring another piece of paradise. Have visited this area a few times but never been fortunate enough to explore from the water, certainly a great way to see and appreciate such a beautiful coastline. Steve was our skipper & guide, very informative and knowledgable and was great at sharing this in a fun way. So pleased we chose the glass bottom trip, the highlight as a non diver was seeing the sea life through the glass bottom (wasn't snorkelling weather) and seeing what a difference a Marine Reserve makes . Many Thanks team Highly Recommend this trip and wish you well fro the upcoming season. Don & Robyn
Paul D
Paul D
2020-11-03
Awesome It was a beautiful warm day with no wind and flat sea's. Ash was our skipper and for a young guy was informative, funny and all round a great asset to the company. I see why i can't catch any snapper where i live cause they are all in Mercury bay in the Marine reserve.? Would highly recommend this trip.
Glynnis
Glynnis
2020-11-01
An 2 hour cruise along the coast sprinkled with islands bird and sea life. 5 stars for Ash! The rugged coast and the marine reserve . Awesome seeing the fish through the glass, the caves and blow hole was magical
Tripadvisor rating score: 5.0 of 5, based on 1139 reviews.

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