Te Rerekawau (Kaiate Falls) Walk

Te Rerekawau (Kaiate Falls) Walk

10 Rankers Reviews

6 Face-to-Face

1 Tauranga

Your Nature Guide

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Marios Gavalas

Author And Researcher

Nau mai, haere mai

Nau mai, haere mai

I'm Marios, delivering the best of Aotearoa's nature walks to your device.

I've personally walked hundreds of New Zealand's tracks and spent months in libraries uncovering interesting information on New Zealand/Aotearoa. And you'll find a slice of that research on this page - enjoy!

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Information

Te Rerekawau (Kaiate Falls) Walk

2 km return | 45 minutes return

The upper falls are a series of small cascades, framed with ferns and dense vegetation. There is a choice of swimming holes at the upper falls and a larger hole at the lower falls.

Views of Tauranga and Mount Maunganui from near the carpark look through a gap at the mouth of the valley.

Walking Track

Access

From Welcome Bay, follow Welcome Bay Road. Kaiate Falls are signposted along Waitao Road after 6.5km. Continue 5km and turn left into Upper Papamoa Road. Te Rerekawau Scenic Reserve is signposted on the left after 1km.

From Te Puke, follow Te Puke Quarry Road and Upper Papamoa Road for 9.3km.

The track starts from the parking area, which has toilets.

Track

The track is mostly metalled, even and aided with steps on steeper sections.

The main track loops around the falls and interconnects with several link tracks between opposite sides of the loop.

From the carpark, bear left, ignoring the first track coming in on the left, which leads to Upper Papamoa Road. Continue bearing left, passing two junctions with tracks to opposite sides of the loop, to the footbridge at the base of the upper falls (7minutes). A track connects to the return side of the loop.

Be very careful of the slippery rocks.

The descent to the lower falls is quite steep and exits at the base of the falls. The rocks here can be extremely slippery (5minutes).

It takes approximately 20 minutes to climb to the carpark, passing the three link tracks.

Geology

The 10-metre-high lower falls have formed a substantial plunge pool and eaten back the ignimbrite cliffs to form a shaded basin.

Details

Feature Value Info

Organisation

Western Bay of Plenty District Council

Council organisation

Location

North IslandBay of PlentyTauranga

Categories

  • Activity__walking_and_trekkingWalking
  • Free

Directions

To Coordinates

Coordinates

-37.7607072159398

176.242124938965

Latitude
-37.7607072159398
Longitude
176.242124938965

Nearby

Reviews

    • 19Sept18.
    • You could jump in the water!
    • best waterfalls yet, nice native bush.
    • Best waterfall, awesome picnic area
    • It is about 30 minutes from Te Puke by car.
    Rating Count Percentage
    10/10 6
    60%
    9/10 2
    20%
    8/10 2
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    7/10 0
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    6/10 0
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    5/10 0
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    4/10 0
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    3/10 0
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    1/10 0
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  • 5.0/5

    Beautiful, track could use a little maintenance though

    Reviewed over 3 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    This is a beautiful place whether you want to take in the view and or take a dip.

    I went with my kids and grandchildren we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The older kids of course jumped off the side scary at first but then kept going for more. Id definately recommend anyone go for a visit. A bit of a hike but was well worth it

    Reviewed almost 6 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    19Sept18.

    The falls and tracks good but the car park is small and the turn in at the bottom of the road is tight. We had a 7.7m motorhome. It looked like some of the young ones there had camped overnight.

    Reviewed about 6 years ago

  • 4.0/5

    It is about 30 minutes from Te Puke by car.

    Lovely place to swim and jump about 5 metres! But very cold water!

    Reviewed over 8 years ago

  • 4.5/5

    If you love jumping into the water, this place is good for it.

    Reviewed over 8 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    You could jump in the water!

    Reviewed about 10 years ago and experienced in April 2014

  • 5.0/5

    Secret place, great waterfall.

    Reviewed about 10 years ago and experienced in April 2014

  • 4.0/5

    Nice falls and you can jump in the water (about 7 metres high).

    Reviewed over 10 years ago and experienced in February 2014

  • 5.0/5

    Best waterfall, awesome picnic area

    Reviewed over 11 years ago

  • 5.0/5

    best waterfalls yet, nice native bush.

    Needs more publicity, Highly recommended.

    Reviewed over 14 years ago and experienced in March 2009