Cathedral Cove was near the top of my New Zealand bucket list. I came across some photo on Pinterest while trying to plan, and was determined to go there if we could. in fact, we planned our stay on the Coromandel Peninsula specifically so that we could visit Cathedral Cove. for one - I love beaches. for two - I mean, come on, it's gorgeous.
you can't reach Cathedral Cove by car. you either have to hike 45 minutes through the forest, or arrive by boat. we opted to hike in with a picnic lunch. the parking area is small and we may or may not have just squeezed our rental into a "space" [which is what most everyone else had done.] the hike was actually quite a workout. it was hilly, and rocky in a few spots. but I couldn't complain about the views. I still can't get over how blue the water was. and the sky.
Husband was a good sport about me taking photos, so after I shot my quota we just wandered the beach hand in hand. [ok and maybe I made him take one shot of me.] the main draw of this area is the enormous cathedral-like cavern/tunnel that connects the two beach areas. but I loved the giant rock islands out in the water, and we discovered our own smaller cave as well.
I would have been happy to stay until sunset. or for the week, whichever. but we decided to call it when a huge storm appeared a few miles over. after the long hike back, we made it into the car without getting drenched. as gorgeous as Cathedral Cove is, I don't think it would be ideal to be stuck there during a thunderstorm.
Pinterest gets a win for this one. I was worried Cathedral Cove wouldn't live up to the hype. but like the rest of New Zealand, it was just as stunning as we hoped for.
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