East Cape Travel Guide
East Cape accommodation, East Cape activities and attractions, East Cape maps, transportation to and around East Cape - the Jasons East Cape Destination Travel Guide is your complete visitor guide for East Cape.
Beautiful and remote, the East Cape region is ideal for a wilderness camping or backpacking holiday, and when you've met the locals, you’ll begin to understand how linked the land and people can be. East Cape starts the moment you drive onto Highway 35 at
Opotiki, continuing through the tiny coastal communities of
Te Kaha,
Waihau Bay,
Hicks Bay and
Te Araroa through to Ruatoria. The road hugs the sea on one side, and on the other, the wild Raukumara Ranges stretch away to the interior.
As you travel, you can explore beaches strewn with driftwood and fish from rocky bays fringed with pohutukawa trees. Don’t miss the drive out from the tiny Te Araroa to the East Cape’s historic lighthouse. The road is rough but the spectacular views from New Zealand’s most easterly point are worth it. Historic Ruatoria is renowned as the centre of the Ngati Porou tribe. Ruatoria sits in the shadow of sacred Mount Hikurangi, the East Cape’s highest peak (1752m) and the first place on New Zealand’s mainland to see the sunrise.
