Abel Tasman National Park

National park · Abel Tasman National Park ·

Abel Tasman National Park

National park · Abel Tasman National Park ·

Golden beaches, lush forests, turquoise waters, wildlife viewing

Information

Tasman Region 7183, New Zealand Get directions

@cntraveler

42,481 Postcards · 5,683 Cities

Chronic Illnesses Don’t Slow Them Down: How Adventure Travelers Manage Their Conditions on the Trail and Beyond

"A stunning national park in New Zealand with golden beaches and lush forests, accessible via hiking trails or water taxis."

https://www.cntraveler.com/story/hiking-camping-chronic-illness

Abel Tasman National Park

@travelleisure

28,641 Postcards · 5,542 Cities

10 Best Hiking Trails and Great Walks in New Zealand

"Known for its golden beaches, lush native bush, and azure-blue lagoons, this is New Zealand's finest coastal walk with options for multi-day walks or shorter excursions." - Amy Louise Bailey Amy Louise Bailey Amy Louise Bailey is a content creator and media specialist. Her work has been published in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, Condé Nast Traveler, Bloomberg Pursuits, and Robb Report. Travel

https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/nature-travel/best-hikes-great-walks-new-zealand

Abel Tasman National Park

@afar

25,132 Postcards · 3,702 Cities

"Abel Tasman Coastal Track New Zealand's smallest national park certainly packs a punch. Unlike so many of the great ragged mountains that dot the country, Abel Tasman curves along the north coast of the South Island, peppered with golden sand beaches and steep cliffs that fall away to crystal-blue water. There are many options for exploring the park—by water taxi and boat, kayak, walking, or a combination of all three. Normally taking 4 to 5 days to hike the whole coastal track, you can split up the journey at many of the campsites, cabins, or even boat hostels along the way. One of the most interesting features of Abel Tasman is the high and low tide extremes, which affect the paths you take on the hike. Sometimes at low tide you might be able to cross a long beach while at high tide you have to go the long way around, making exploring this national park much more exciting."

The Best Hikes in New Zealand

Abel Tasman National Park

@afar

25,132 Postcards · 3,702 Cities

The Perfect Week on New Zealand's South Island

Abel Tasman National Park

Andrea J.

Google

Stunning nature definitely worth a visit! We did a 4h boat tour and we regretted not getting off at one of the stops and walking around. The color of the water is insane, the whole area is so pristine. Can't recommend enough taking high SPF.

P K.

Google

Brilliant, a vestibule by watertight, generally flat walking with some climbs/descents, few stairs, Well formed paths.... the views are sublime.... take water and snacks.... lots of places for a dip along the way.

Michael

Google

The Abel Tasman walking trails start right from the Park Cafe in Marahau – and they’re absolutely stunning! The tracks follow the coastline with golden beaches, turquoise water, and lush forest all around. You can do short walks or go further to Anchorage and beyond. Everything is well-marked and beautifully maintained. Along the way there are plenty of great spots to swim, relax, or just enjoy the views. One of the most beautiful walks in New Zealand.

Zebs S.

Google

A wonderful spot to take your kids for a walk in their Zebs Shoes. Beautiful beaches, forest and cheeky wekas stealing your stuff. We camp on the beach with the kids and had a lovely swim in the ocean. What a spot!

Alfredo

Google

A spectacular and easy-to-visit park. It offers so many opportunities and trails. We chose to sail from Kaiteriteri to Totaranui and back because it had rained all day. Despite the bad weather and the little we saw from the sea, we still loved the park. We managed to see some seals on the rocks and others swimming. If we were to return, we would choose to stay at a lodge for a few nights. There's definitely a lot to explore by following some of the coastal trails.

Alessandro S.

Google

Simply wonderful! There are many ways to visit the Abel Tasman: we did the day cruise, with all the stops, to not miss a spot on the coastline. Generally they stops at specific point to admire nature (we had the chance to see the seals), and there are plenty of information along the way. Then we stopped at Tonga Quarry for a 4km trail. The park is very well protected and there is only wilderness, I suggest to bring your own food and drink with you. At the departure of the boats there is a small supermarket to buy just in case.

Enrico A.

Google

Really amazing. We made a Katamaran Trip to Anchorage and walked back along the 12k coast trail to Marahau. Beautiful. Nothing else.

Jonas L.

Google

Beautiful park, the great walk is amazing, but should not be underestimated, I definitely recommend booking huts and camping in advance and checking the tides because of the way shorter low tide routes. The rangers are very kind. I also went canyoning there, the water is quite cold.

Lindsey B.

Yelp

Abel Tasman is beautiful! If lush green rainforest and sparkling turquoise waters appeal to you (and I mean, why wouldn't it?) then by all means do the trek through Abel Tasman. Abel Tasman is one of New Zealand's "great walks" which means the trails are super well maintained, and there are luxurious huts (by trekking standards) to stay in so you don't even have to camp! You can hike from hut to hut and do anything from 2 days to 5 (or even just 1 day if you're wimpy) - you don't have to finish the entire trek as there are water taxis at various points that will take you back to the car park/trailhead in Marahau. The huts are equipped with mattresses, flush toilets, drinking water, and a kitchen area. In the common area there are also wood stoves, so if someone takes the initiative, you can have heating too. You do need to bring a sleeping bag and cooking equipment (and food of course) but all in all it makes for a much lighter pack than if you were straight out camping. For those who prefer to rough it, there are also various campgrounds along the trail. For both the huts and the camps you have to book ahead of time on the DOC website, and for the huts I believe it's something like $34 NZ per person per night. A bit pricey but you also have to consider there's no fee to enter the park, so that's all you'll pay. We planned our trip starting in Marahau and then staying in Anchorage Hut the first night. That meant our first day of hiking was relatively short (8 miles) and we found ourselves with most of the day at the hut. It's on a nice beach with a few shorter walks you can explore, but unluckily for us it rained most of the afternoon and we huddled in the hut rather than sunning on the beach. The next night we hiked all the way to Awaroa Hut, which was quite the trek - 16 miles I believe. You certainly don't have to do that all in one day, as it seems like most people just hike to Bark Bay, approximately half the journey. At Awaroa there's a tidal inlet and you can only continue on during low tide. The tides were not in our favor, which meant we would have had to wait until noon to cross the next day. Instead we chose to hike out a few miles to Awaroa Lodge (very fancy) and catch the water taxi back to Marahau. I do suggest reserving a water taxi trip ahead of time as they seem to fill up! The water taxi took about 1.5 hours to get us back, with several pick up/drop off stops along the way. It was fun to see all the places we'd hiked through from the water - a new perspective!

Daphne O.

Yelp

Just when I thought it was beautiful enough, it got even more beautiful. Great scenic views and beaches. Trails are well paved. Great camping sites. You can take the water taxi in straight from Nelson and just camp for a couple days if you wanted to. Don't have to do it for a few days. But it's amazing if you do. Will come back here again for sure.