The Coromandel Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island is a place where coastline and culture come alive in ways that stay with visitors long after they’ve left. Stretching for about 110 kilometers between the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay of Plenty, this region has deep roots that go back to the arrival of Māori long before Europeans stepped ashore. Mercury Bay, for example, was named by Captain James Cook in the 18th century while observing a transit of the planet Mercury, and it was originally called Te Whanganui-a Hei by the local Ngāti Hei people. It’s a landscape shaped by both sea and story, with many places still connected to Māori heritage today.

Along its shores are some of the peninsula’s most celebrated sights. Cathedral Cove, with its sweeping rock arch framing the Pacific, is a scene many visitors recognize from film and photography; reaching it by trail or by kayak offers a special perspective on the craggy volcanic coast. Nearby Hot Water Beach invites a very different kind of experience where at low tide warm mineral springs bubble up beneath the sand and bright towels and shovels appear as people dig their own heat-soaked pools right on the shoreline.