Abel Tasman Coast Walk

Abel Tasman National Park, NZ

Just over a month after our first ‘Great Walk’ experience (The Kepler Track), Mac & I decided we were ready to tackle another. The Abel Tasman Coast Walk is a 60km walk through Abel Tasman National Park. The track weaves through lush forests and vast beaches at it makes its way from the most southern part of the track – Marahau, to the northern part – Wainui. The rain that had been following us on our travels had FINALLY dissipated and Mac & I were super stoked as we hit the track on our first day with nothing but sunshine & clear blue skies! Warning: there are a LOT of pictures in this post! Everything was so beautiful it felt wrong not to share them! Hope you enjoy!

Day 1 – Marahau to Torrent Bay

We left our campsite on Ruby Bay (McKee Memorial Domain) on Wednesday morning and less than an hour later we were in Marahau. After parking our car and having a few last minute sandwiches on the hood of the car, we set off! We hit the trail around 11am in good spirits. This was especially amplified by the aforementioned FANTASTIC weather! It’s amazing what a hefty dose of Vitamin D will do when you’ve been without for so long! We had a quick break at Stillwell Bay before having a proper lunch break at Apple Tree Bay.

We arrived at the turn off for a popular hut/campsite – Anchorage Bay – and it was here that things started to slightly go downhill. We discovered that we were about 1.5 hours late for a low tide crossing to our campsite. Missing this window meant that we had to add 2.4km/~1hr to our journey. We also realised that we forgot to air out our tent & fly when we had lunch on the beach. They were still quite damp from the previous night’s rain & with the potential for temperatures to dip quite low overnight, we were pretty upset with ourselves for forgetting. Still, we pressed on and arrived at Torrent Bay Campsite around 4pm.

We made a feeble attempt to air out the fly, but the campsite was so sheltered and tree-heavy that it didn’t help much. As predicted, it got COLD once the sun went down (which was about 5:30pm), so we donned all of our warm weather gear and did some jumping jacks in a feeble attempt to warm up before retiring at an embarrassingly early time!

Day 2 – Torrent Bay to Onetahuti Bay

We awoke on Thursday with more blue skies, though it was still quite brisk in the morning! We set out around 9:30am and immediately encountered one of the few big hills on the track. Compared to the Kepler Track where the highest elevation was ~1400m, the Abel Tasman’s highest elevation barely reaches 200m. That being said, there are still a few hills, but nothing as strenuous as our ~1000m climb on the second day of the Kepler! This is the elevation profile for the Abel Tasman:

We took a small side trip to South Head lookout before crossing Falls River via a long (& much too swingy for me) suspension bridge. From there it was just a short walk to Medlands Beach where we stopped for lunch (and we actually remembered to dry out our tent & fly!!!). We learned from a kayak guide that had just arrived with a group that this area has the highest tide differential in NZ. Medlands Beach has 4.8m of tidal swing!

After lunch, we continued on to Bark Bay – a really nice campsite on the beach complete with filtered water & a kitchen shelter. There was an all tide crossing (taking only an extra 10 minutes), but our timing was better this day so we decided to go for the low tide crossing. Plus, this way we could appreciate the beauty of the inanely vast beach! All was fine and good until we reached a small stream that we would have to cross. It was too deep for our boots, so off they came along with our socks and into the frigid water we plunged! And BOY was it frigid!!

With our feet dry & socks and boots back on, we continued onwards to Tonga Quarry Campsite. We had a quick break here before hiking to our campsite for the night – Onetahuti Bay. It was a beautiful place right on the beach with flush toilets (!!!!) and a cooking shelter. There was also a small waterfall nearby with a pool at its base that looked like it would have been perfect for a cool down in the summer!

Having arrived a few hours before sundown (at 3:10pm), we got to explore the beach a little bit. We found a cool cave and played on the rocks while admiring the colours of the sun set.

Day 3 – Onetahuti Bay to Totaranui Bay

We were able to take our time and have a leisurely Friday morning because of the tidal crossing we had to do. Low tide was at 1:30pm and we were only 2 hours from the bay, so we didn’t end up leaving until 9:50am. The cave that we had found the night before was now totally filled with water! Upon leaving Onetahuti Bay, we crossed some really nice bridges (thank you, Department of Conservation!) and made a slow climb up to the top of the head where we had some amazing views of Awaroa Bay below.

We made our way back down to the bay and walked along the coast/beach of Awaroa Bay before arriving at the Awaroa Hut. We had lunch here and enjoyed soaking up the glorious sunshine as we waited patiently for low tide. We set out to cross the estuary at 1:30pm – low tide exactly – but that didn’t mean that we wouldn’t have to cross some streams! Off the boots & socks came again, and into the numbing waters we went! There were also heaps of very sharp shells that we had to walk on, so needless to say my feet were HURTING by the time we reached the other side thirty minutes later!

From the estuary it was only a little bit further to our final destination for the day. After a seemingly endless uphill climb, we made it to the top of the head and we were able to see the long, beautiful beach below. We ditched the packs briefly and made the small side trip to Skinner Point for some more amazing views. We continued on and made it to the campsite at 3:50pm. This place is HUGE – it’s one of NZ’s biggest campsites and can see up to 1200 people/night in the summer months (though when we were there, there were only about 12 people!). Our campsite was in an open field-area which meant that it got cold FAST! All of our nights spent camping were cold, but this last night was definitely the coldest. Luckily the clear night sky and stunning starts were good consolations for the bitter temperatures!

Day 4 – Separation Point

The true Abel Tasman Coastal Walk continues from Totaranui up north and around the peninsula to the Wainui car park. Given that car relocation services are rather expensive, and the water taxis don’t operate north of Totaranui Beach, we opted to get a water taxi later in the afternoon which would leave us with ample time in the morning to go explore the area. We set off at 7:45am (just barely past sunrise – there was a lot of frost on the ground!) and continued on the trail north. We made it to Anapai Bay, and then to Mutton Cove in less than 1.5 hours. Walking along the beaches wasn’t the best experience (sand & hiking boots aren’t the greatest of friends), but we had great views & more gorgeous weather that more than made up for it! We had a brief snack at Mutton Cove before going to Separation Point.

There was a small lighthouse here, but the main attraction of the area – after the stunning cliff & ocean views of course! – was the seal colony! We saw small seal pups sunbathing on the rocks; seals playing and swimming in the water; and even seals on the rocks near the shore! It was so cool to see these beautiful animals in such a close setting (we obviously kept a respectful distance).

Our seal experience wasn’t over once we left Separation Point, however! In the bay before Mutton Cove is a small rocky beach. As we were climbing over the rocks, Mac & I heard a snort and we turned and saw a baby seal pup less than a metre from where we were climbing!!! I paused long enough to snap a picture before we hustled along in case mama seal was nearby!

En route back to Anapai Bay we crossed into a cove we had passed on the way out, but it was now accessible due to the low tide. We explored the rocks here a bit before crossing onto Anapai Beach and continuing back to Totaranui. Check out the difference just a few hours makes!

We got back to Totaranui around 1pm where we dried out the tent & fly in the sunshine and packed up our things. Our water taxi came at 2:45pm and then it was only a short 1 hour journey to make it back to Marahau Bay. Yep that’s right – 3 full days of hiking, and only 1 hour to make it back by boat! It was neat to see all of the campsites and heads from the water. One of the coolest parts of the boat ride was when the boat was driven up onto a trailer hitch attached to a tractor! The tractor drove us up the beach and right into town! Talk about arriving in style!

We arrived at the car and promptly pigged out on anything we could get our hands on (we packed just a few too little snacks and were ravenous!!). Once satiated we headed out and made our way towards Golden Bay – stopping at an incredible lookout (Hawkes Lookout) at sunset. What an awesome way to end a perfect 4 days of hiking!

Other Information

Day 1: Marahau to Torrent Bay

16.1km // ~5 hours

Day 2: Torrent Bay to Onetahuti Bay

12.5km // 5.5 hours

Day 3: Onetahuti Bay to Totaranui Bay

15.4km // 6 hours

Day 4: Totaranui Bay to Separation Point & back

12.6km // 5.25 hours

*all times include snack & lunch breaks (and an extra long lunch break on Day 2 while waiting for low tide).

*Campsites were $14pp/night & must be booked online in advance.

*We used Marahau/Abel Tasman Water Taxi & it cost $47pp for a one way trip from Totaranui to Marahau.

The Abel Tasman Coastal Walk is truly a walk for anyone. The trail was extremely well maintained (as one would expect with it being a Great Walk) and the grades were fairly easy as well making accessible for all ages & fitness abilities. With there being so many beaches, bays, campsites (19), & huts (4), it’s easy to customize this walk to your liking. This is an extremely popular spot in the summer months with people doing day trips of varying length. The water taxi service further allows you to change up your hike and to see more of the park. The location of the Abel Tasman Coast Walk is also quite nice weather-wise. We may have experienced somewhat of an anomaly with our picture-perfect weather, but aside from that the temperatures of this region are fairly favourable in the early winter months. That being said, it does get VERY cold at night!! Our 0C-rated sleeping bags were juuust barely warm enough for a comfortable sleep. All in all, the Abel Tasman Coastal Walk is something I would hands down recommend to anyone visiting the area!