The Department of Conservation campground sits behind you as you navigate the slope toward the waterline, each footfall on smooth, egg-shaped stones producing that distinctive Coromandel clatter. Pohutukawa trees lean inland, permanently shaped by the northwesterlies that funnel through this gap between peninsula and islands. A handful of yachts swing on their moorings, their skippers having motored in from Kennedy Bay or sailed across from Waiheke.
“This is the Coromandel's geographical full stop, where tarmac ends and the coastal walking track begins its 10-kilometer journey southward.”
Credit: UnsplashCliff-edge cove with emerald water
Low tide exposes kelp-draped boulders and rock pools where periwinkles cluster in the shade. The beach curves gently, framed by steep hillsides covered in regenerating bush—mostly kanuka and five-finger, with the occasional totara rising above the scrub. Fishermen cast from the eastern point where the water deepens quickly, their lines searching for snapper and kahawai.
As afternoon light slants across the gulf, the stones warm beneath your palms. This is the threshold where trampers begin the Coromandel Coastal Walkway toward Stony Bay, shouldering packs and leaving boot prints in the rare patches of sand. The nearest cafe is an hour's drive south. You either planned for self-sufficiency or you turn around disappointed.
