So it’s Fall season and the weather temp is lowering down to 18 degrees, with the whistling blow of the Pacific wind making you feel like it’s 10. Still, we got invited to a spa pool party at the beach, where the promise of not just one, but various hot spots, sounds like a dream.
It’s THE beach party, they say, unlike anything else in the world. Tourists and locals alike, people of different color and sizes, cluster together to — guess what — cook themselves in hot water that wells up from underground thermal vents right on the beach. Yes, you read that right.
This geological wonder called Hot Water Beach lies on Mercury Bay, Whitianga, on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand. It is said that the natural hot water that bubbles beneath the surface comes from two underground springs or reservoirs of volcanic heated water, a remnant of a volcanic activity that occurred in the Coromandel region 5 to 9 million years ago.
Guests are told to bring a spade (or you can rent one at the nearby cafe), dig a hole, and create their own personal jacuzzi, as waves kiss the shore a few meters from the Pacific Ocean. Ahh, what could be more relaxing than that?
But mind you, it’s not as easy as it seems. First, you’ve got to time it right. This hot pool event can be experienced only within one to two hours either side of low tide. So be sure to check the day’s tidal schedule.
Second, you have to choose the right spot in the wide stretch of sand where the water is not too cold or scalding hot. Even my own clumsy feet got hopping mad a time or two. In super hot areas, underground water temperatures are known to reach a maximum of 64°C (147°F). Ouch.
And then, when you finally manage to stake your spot, you learn how to build a sea wall and keep fortifying it to contain your pool.
After about 30 minutes of exploring, digging and abandoning probably more than 10 unfinished holes, we finally found the perfect spot close to the water’s edge, where the chilly water from the Pacific ocean mixed with the steaming hot water below, provided the perfect balance.
As we laid back and soaked up the natural surroundings of pinkish golden sand, steaming holes, clear water and super clean beach (zero plastics!), we started to people watch and wonder about this unique communal experience that is Hot Water Beach hole digging.
At Hot Water Beach, the invisible bubble of personal space is gone… or at least reduces in size to a foot or the thin line of a sand wall. The splashing sea even breaks down some walls, encouraging people with bigger and deeper pits to invite the lost or unsuccessful ones to join them for the meantime.
In one steaming pit, we find a bikini-clad European couple with arms around each other. To our front, partly blocking our sea view, is an American team trying to build a fortress against the battering waves of the cold sea. To our left is a typical Kiwi family creating a big pool to fit all.
Then, there are those with spade on hand, feeling lost and unsure where else or exactly to dig a hole. Others, if they’re lucky, have no qualms at all taking over the abandoned and perfectly heated pools the early builders left behind.
Often rated as one of the world’s most renowned beaches – this is one unique Kiwi destination and cultural experience you shouldn’t miss when in New Zealand. Hot Water Beach is truly extraordinary and so wonderfully weird it has easily become one of my favorite beaches in the world.
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This raw mobile story is written while drinking a hot cup of long black at The Pour House cafe along Hahei Beach Coromandel while the strong winds whistled its goodbye outside. (Originally posted April 28, 2018)
Ayin Quijano 
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