Hiking Trails • Geologic Formations
Best Free Things to Do in Punakaiki
THE 5 BEST Free Things to Do in Punakaiki
Best Free Things to Do in Punakaiki
Category types
Types of Attractions
Awards
Travellers' Choice Awards winners (including the "Best of the Best" title) are among the top 10% of listings on Tripadvisor, according to the reviews and opinions of travellers across the globe.
Traveller rating
Good for
5 places sorted by traveller favourites
- Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, number of page views, and user location.
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
What travellers are saying
- StrickesRotorua District, New Zealand1,589 contributionsStunning views from a well constructed boardwalk.
We visited later in the day and although pretty cold we enjoyed our walk and the scenery. Very scenic and well worth the stop in the chilly weather.
Very easy to get around for many mobility levels. Safe barriers and still able to get great views from all areas of the rocks, ocean and board walks.
Good parking across the road. And nice to see parking for motorhomes like we were travelling in.
Wekas wandering around the carpark were neat for us to see. We don’t often see them we we live in the North Island.Written 12 July 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - AJSan Francisco, CA332 contributionsBeautiful quick walk to the beach. The walk itself to the beach is enjoyable. The beach is lovely. We went on an off and on rainy day and got the beach to ourselves while there. We went probably mid tide and were still able to get out on some of the beach. Go at low tide to be able to further and with more ease. Lovely small waterfall from the rock face down onto the sand. One of our top stops in Punakaiki!Written 29 December 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Rainer1 contributionEasy accessible cave with some smaller stalactites. If you want to see glowworms, you have to come during night, because the glowworms are near an 2nd opening of the cave. Consequently, it is not dark enough during daylight to see them.Written 22 March 2023This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- jjoChicago829 contributionsGreat hike through a lovely river canyon. There is no real end point as the trail leads to long trails for multi-day hike. Most people hike to either the first or second swinging bridge, which makes for a good moderate hike. At the recommendation of the folks in the park headquarters, we hiked about 20 or 30 minutes past the second swinging bridge and you come to a nice view point (there will be a small wooden fence on the right side of the trail) of an ox bow in the river way below the trail. Also, you can take a different track on the way back,. but that leads to hiking on a gravel road and then along the highway. We thought the trail in was so nice we were happy to hike the same trail on the way out and were happy with that decision.Written 20 March 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Rebecca R6 contributionsOne of the best natural attractions in NZ, you absolutely must add a visit to the Pancake Rocks to your West Coast itinerary!!Written 20 April 2022This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
