New Chums Beach, Coromandel Peninsula: Hiking to One of New Zealand’s Best Coastal Viewpoints

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Last Updated on April 22, 2018 by Jon Algie

The Coromandel Peninsula features some of New Zealand’s most unique coastal features, including Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. It’s also home to some of the country’s top beaches, and New Chums Beach is getting a reputation as a place not to miss. The viewpoint above the beach is definitely the highlight — it requires a short hike then an uphill scramble to reach. Are you planning a trip to the Coromandel Peninsula? Hopefully this post will inspire you to add New Chums Beach to your itinerary!

Hiking to New Chums Beach

The short hike to New Chums Beach definitely isn’t straight forward. From the car park you’ll need to cross a shallow stream which cuts through the northern end of Whangapoua Beach. It’s kind of annoying having to take your shoes off, walk through a stream then put your shoes back on your wet and sandy feet.

From there you’ll walk across the beach / over the rocks and then along a short forest track before reaching the viewpoint track. It’s steep and rough — you’ll want to wear good shoes although I’m sure people do it in jandals. You’ll see some great views from various points of the track, but you’ll need to go right to the top for that iconic New Chums Beach vista.

The View above New Chums Beach

I’m generally skeptical about things that overly hyped up. I read somewhere that New Chums Beach is one of the best beaches in the world, and while I wouldn’t go that far, it is one of the best in New Zealand. The best aspect of a visit to New Chums Beach is definitely the view — you get the perfect angle of the crescent bay with its white sand beach, colourful water and forest surrounds. We didn’t even have a good day in terms of weather and light and we were still blown away. I’d love to go back on a sunny day.

The Beach

After seeing New Chums Beach from above you’ll want to head down to the sand to see if it still holds up on closer inspection.  It does, although it was kind of hard to tell on such a grey day. The sand was smooth and the length of the beach means you’ll be able to carve out a section all for yourself. On a sunny summer’s day this place would be paradise.

All up it’ll take a couple of hours to visit New Chums Beach properly, but you could easily spend all day there. It combines with several other beautiful beaches and viewpoints to make the Coromandel Peninsula a must-see for beach lovers (second only to Abel Tasman National Park of the places I’ve been to in New Zealand).

Getting to New Chums Beach

It’s not particularly close to the other main Coromandel Peninsula sights, but don’t let that put you off. It’s located near Whangapoua, which is around an hour’s drive from the more popular sights like Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach and 25 minutes drive from Coromandel Town. The Coromandel Peninsula is only a couple of hours from Auckland and you could see quite a lot of it on a weekend away from the city.

FURTHER READING: Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove: Two Unique New Zealand Beaches

What is your favourite beach in New Zealand? Let me know in the comments below!

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Jon Algie

A travel blogger from New Zealand who hates talking about himself in the third person and has no imagination when it comes to naming websites.

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