Hotels, motels, resorts, campgrounds and holiday parks that can truly be called 'absolute beachfront' for a late summer sun, sea and sand getaway. Ewan McDonald curates a selection.
We do like to be beside … well, anything wet. Sea, lakes, rivers, hot pools, pretty much any form of H2O will do. So much better if there's a place to crash just over the dunes or right on the shore, whether your budget runs to luxury resort, 5-star hotel or the classic Kiwi campground.
You'll find all three in Northland, where the only thing that separates Camp Waipū Cove from the water is a tiny sand dune. On the Waitangi beachfront Copthorne Resort and Hotel Bay of Islands is a proper resort-style hotel.
Further north, there's nothing but blue sky and water between Opononi's Onepu Moana Retreat and the Hokianga Harbour and its dunes; the six-bedroom, two-storey holiday home is perfect for groups and families. Golden Sand Beachfront Accommodation is literally that, Cable Bay beach lapping the front door. Pets welcome, too.
Coromandel's Hahei Beach Resort was a finalist in our recent Best of Summer 2022 poll – "You'll wake to 500m of Pacific beachfront at your door (or tent-flap) or a few steps down a sandy path," we wrote. Just out of Coromandel town, the McFarlane family's Shelly Beach Top 10 Holiday Park lies on the peninsula's other coast, and DoC's Fletcher Bay campground is a gem (see our Planning Ahead feature).
Also on a peninsula, in Whaingaroa Raglan Harbour this time, Raglan Holiday Park is almost surrounded by water, reached by a road bridge making for a private hideaway just two minutes' walk from the beach. Atop Karioitahi's cliffs, Castaways Resort's chalets and studios feature private decks with views of the ocean and its stunning sunsets. If that's not relaxing enough, Bersantai Day Spa is onsite.
From Orokawa Bay to Cape Runaway, Bay of Plenty stretches 260km, most of it stunning, golden sand, east-facing Pacific Ocean beaches – prime Kiwi summer getaway territory, sprinkled with seaside campgrounds.
Our readers voted Ōhope Beach Top 10 Holiday Park as the country's favourite in our Best of Summer 2022 poll; other hotspots include Mount Beachside Holiday Park, operating since the 1930s on Mt Maunganui's fabled Main Beach, and Bowentown Beach Holiday Park, a stretch of surf beach just footsteps from cabin or campsite plus a sheltered bay for fishing, kayaking and swimming.
Tauranga's Trinity Wharf hotel is built on three piers over the harbour's edge. If you're lucky, you might spot a seal sunning on the private pontoon. The hotel has 123 rooms and apartments, infinity pool and onsite restaurant.
Lake Taupō nudges 200km of shoreline and easily that many places to lay your head. In a secluded spot near Tokaanu on its southern edge, Braxmere has 10 studios for guests to unwind and revel in fresh air, bush and water, with a highly regarded onsite restaurant.
Black Barn's award-winning Havelock North bistro will be out of service for some time following a fire this month but their superb properties (recommended by this writer and the Cumberbatch clan) are still open for pleasure. The Beach House is a three-bedroom retreat, reflecting a rather glamorous version of the Kiwi bach in a premium but private spot on Waimarama Beach.
Nearby, the White Beach House is a six-bedroom retreat, a stone's throw from the same beach.
In Napier, the 4.5-star Crown Hotel has 39 studios, one- and two-bedroom suites overlooking the waterfront and Ahuriri, the gentrified historical village of pubs, cafes, restaurants and wines, beers and spirits conjured up in and around the famous old tobacco factory. Just 30km north of the city, Waipātiki Beach Holiday Park is a family-friendly campsite.
Heading west, Taranaki hosts another of our Best of … holiday parks at Fitzroy Beach in the heart of New Plymouth. Belt Road Holiday Seaside Park is another excellent place to stay in the city. South, Ōakura Beach Holiday Park is bang-smack on the black-sand surf beach and Ōpunake Beach Holiday Park is in a spot known for safe swimming and surf. Urenui Beach Camp, tucked away on a spit at the river mouth 30 minutes north of the city, has been a summer playground for more than 100 years; families might like a self-contained unit at Wai-iti Beach Retreat.
Backing up New Plymouth's new reputation as one of our prime weekend getaways are a number of luxury places to kip. St Georges by the Sea is nestled between the Tasman and Taranaki Maunga, with spa and infinity pools above the beach; for privacy, tranquillity, sea views and sunsets, consider The Bungalow Coastal Retreat, a 1920s homestead just out of the city, or Ahu Ahu Beach Villas, in farmland near Ōakura with an easy walk to the waves.
Sometimes wild, sometimes windswept but always dramatic and curving for miles, the lower North Island's west coast beaches are little known to many Kiwis. Waikanae and Ōtaki are magnificent but a shout-out to Hīmatangi, not too far from landlocked Palmerston North, where the holiday park offers self-contained units, cabins, bunk rooms and campsites. There's a great range of family adventures on hand but what's more Kiwi than fish 'n' chips on a sprawling beach in the evening?
Closer to Wellington is Peka Peka – an hour's drive, quicker if they ever get that motorway open - where you'll find Atahuri, four private, luxurious and exclusive suites facing seaward, directly on to the dunes. In the capital you can't get too much closer to the waterfront, or Te Papa and the cafe strip, than the Copthorne Hotel on Oriental Bay.
Marlborough's Sounds, its wine and artisan food producers, lend themselves to a curated collection of water's edge lodgings and fine dining. Bay of Many Coves, the region's only 5-star resort, is best-known but Lochmara Lodge, Punga Cove Retreat and Furneaux Lodge, looking over the calm, clear waters of Endeavour Inlet, are well worth a look.
Don't let the name fool you: the Picton Yacht Club is a contemporary hotel just a stroll from the marina, ferry terminal and township.
Even if it's not whale-watching season, there are plenty of excuses to park up on the coast between Picton and Christchurch – Kaikōura got its name for a good reason, and five minutes south is Peketa Beach Holiday Park. An exiled Cantabrian speaks wistfully of Gore Bay, her rugged and remote childhood beach escape where you'll find the Gore Bay and Buxton camping grounds; Lethfield Beach Holiday Park, 40 minutes north of Christchurch, has more facilities and – bonus – it's one of the South Island's few dog-friendly campsites.
We're three-quarters of the way down the motu and haven't mentioned a riverfront property. Where better to put that right than Ōtautahi? Its name drawn from trees that overhang Ōtakaro, the Avon River across the street, Mike Woodward and Elsa Lee's Whitewood Motel was conceived as the most luxurious motel apartments Christchurch has ever seen. "Motel" is not quite the right word: these are 29 inner-city apartments inspired by luxury accommodation throughout Asia and the US.
There's been a farm at Annandale, on Banks Peninsula, since the 1840s and today it boasts 1600ha of coastal pasture, 500 head of beef cattle and between 7000 and 14,000 sheep. It also boasts several hideaways, including Scrubby Bay (a private setting for up to 14 guests) and Seascape (a picturesque bay with an ultra-modern retreat for two, outdoor lounge with fireplace, outdoor spa, and from here the two of you are left to your own devices, so to speak).
And you thought we'd forgotten about hot springs. We've been banging on about Lake Tekapo since we began this series, so get off your tail and take some time out at Lake Tekapo Motels and Holiday Park, on the lakeshore, under the mountains and the dark sky. You'll have to trek next door for the springs.
Queenstown does what Queenstown does best at The Cottages at Lake Hayes, five lakefront cottages on the lake's shores with hot tubs overlooking the chocolate-boxtop scenery and a communal pinot pit (tip: NZ's best winery restaurants, Amisfield and Akarua, and the Wet Jacket winery and food trucks are within biking distance).
Because I'm a ridiculously lucky travel writer, I can personally recommend The Rees, a 5-star terraced hotel stretching down the hillside to self-contained lakefront villas, and Eichardt's suites and apartments on the city beach.
And if you still need to be convinced that you've been living in the luckiest country in the world for the past couple of years, book at Fiordland Lakeview Motel and Apartments in Te Anau. Walk out your door, cross the road and dip your toes into the clear lake water, or check into one of two Seascape Apartments at Kaka Point in the Catlins, across the street from the beach with ocean views to Nugget Point lighthouse. Or lie back at Surat Bay Lodge on the edge of the Catlins Estuary, where sea lions frolic, and remind yourself: what was it that Fred Dagg said about New Zealanders?
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The trendy spot is just six minutes from the Waikiki beach.