A Waterfall before Lunch
Ōtūihau Whangārei Falls on the Hātea River in Whangārei is one of Northland’s easiest waterfall stops, sitting close to town yet tucked into a green river corridor. You can arrive, hear the water before you see it, and be at a main viewpoint within a couple of minutes of the car park.
Exploring the Viewpoints and Forest Track
The falls drop 26.3 metres in a broad curtain into a cool, rocky amphitheatre. From the upper viewpoints, you look down over the lip and watch the river tighten, spill, and fan out below; from lower track sections, you get closer to the base and feel the air change as spray and shade take over. On a still day, the sound carries ahead of you, and after rain, the whole scene is louder and more powerful.
You can keep your visit short and simple by following the formed tracks between the main upper lookouts, on either side of the falls. You’ll move between different angles of the same waterfall, each one changing the sense of height, volume, and how the water shapes the rock. If you’re travelling with kids, or you’re fitting in multiple Whangārei stops, this is the version that works best.
The Longer Option
If you feel like stretching your legs, you can do a thirty-minute loop walk across the top of the falls. This starts across open grassland, a bridge over the top of the falls, then a walk down to the base through regenerating forest. From there, cross the lower bridge with great views of the falls and river, followed by a climb back to the car park.
Linking the Falls to AH Reed and the Town Basin
You can also turn Ōtūihau into a point-to-point walk by following the Hātea River Walkway to AH Reed Memorial Park and the Town Basin from the base of the falls. You’ll experience a steady shift in scenery as you go: native bush, bridges and picnic spots along the river, then a waterfront path and open park edges near town. If you start at the falls end, much of the route trends gently downhill, which makes it feel surprisingly easy for the distance.
This route is also shared with cyclists.
How to Get There
From central Whangārei, you can follow the Twin Coast Discovery Highway north to the falls or take State Highway 1 to the northern side of Whangārei, then turn west onto Puna Rere Drive, which becomes Spedding Road and then joins the Twin Coast Discovery Highway. Both routes take about 11 minutes and are about 6.5 km long. From Auckland, the falls are 140 minutes and 163 km.
Other places to visit around Whangārei include Bream Head, Hundertwasser Art Centre and the Tutukākā Coast. To reach Tutukākā, continue northeast from the falls on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway.
