Things to Do in Hawkes Bay

• Visit the Wineries
  Between them, Napier and Hastings boast more than thirty vineyards. Napier's closest wineries are at Taradale and Dartmoor Road, while Hastings wineries are concentrated around Fernhill and Havelock North. The Visitor Information Centre has details of wineries and tours.
• Harvest Hawke's Bay
  The region's popular wine and food festival is held annually in the first weekend of February. Local vineyards offer tastings, food, art, live music and entertainment.
• Cape Kidnappers Golf Course
  Cape Kidnappers plays above the ocean, atop dramatic cliffs and is built on a ridge-and-valley landscape with spectacular sea views. It is one of the best golf courses in New Zealand.
• Hawke's Bay Wine Country Food Trail
  A chance to buy and sample some of the region's abundant produce, including sweetcorn, strawberries, cherries, berries, avocados and nuts. A brochure is available from the visitor information centre.
• Napier
  A seaside city renowned as the art deco capital of New Zealand. The city has one of the highest ratios of art deco architecture in the world.
• Art Deco Weekend
  Napier's annual art deco festival is held every February, featuring a vintage car cruise, jazz bands, a bi-plane swoop, exhibitions and entertainment with a 1930s theme. The city holds guided art deco walks daily over the summer period (October-June).
• Art Deco Walks
  The Napier Art Deco Trust takes two guided walks daily.  The morning walk departs at 10am from the Napier i-SITE Centre, Marine Parade.  This is a one-hour walk finishing at the Deco Centre, 163 Tennyson Street. The afternoon walk departs at 2pm and is a two hour tour which includes a 30-minute introduction and slide presentation and a one-and-a-half-hour walk also finishing at the Deco Centre.  Both tours are followed by the optional viewing of a 20-minute video and a complimentary cup of tea or coffee. The Napier Visitor Information Centre (100 Marine Parade) also runs daily art deco walks at 10am daily.
• Napier Marineland
  Featuring dolphins, seals, sea lions, otters and penguins. A swim with the dolphins tour is available, and a penguin recovery workshop operates on site.
• Hawke's Bay Museum
  The regional museum at Napier features displays on the 1931 earthquake, Maori treasures, and dinosaur and fossil discoveries.
• Hastings
  An attractive city, filled with parks, gardens and buildings from the 1930s, surrounded by Hawke's Bay vineyards.
• Heritage Of Hastings Walk
  A leaflet is available from the visitor information centre offering a self-guided tour of the city's historic buildings, many of which date back to the 1931 Napier earthquake.
• Splash Planet
  Hastings is home to New Zealand's first themed water park, featuring the double dipper dual tube ride, the sky castle screamer, the never-ending river ride and the pirate fortress pool with cannons.
• Havelock North
  Several kilometres east of Hastings, at the foot of Te Mata Peak, this prosperous town is known for its cobbled streets, gardens, wineries and village atmosphere.
• Te Mata Peak
  This Hawke's Bay icon, with its towering peak (399m), is one of the first places in the world to see the dawn of the new day, and a popular venue for hang-gliding and parapenting. There are spectacular views over the Heretaunga Plains and Hawke Bay, and some good walkways in the surrounding park.
• Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colony
  A variety of tours take visitors to see the largest, most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. The birds are best seen from November to February, during which time they nest and mate before migrating in March/April. The sanctuary is closed June-October.