Things to Do in Whitianga

• Mercury Bay
  Mercury Bay provides the best anchorage on the Coromandel Coast. The Mercury Bay Boating Club at Whitianga offers a departure point for fishing enthusiasts, and the harbour has several all-tide launching ramps.
• Watersports
  Water-based activities include an hour-long jetboat tour of Mercury Bay, diving trips for certified and student divers, and kayaking tours taking in mangroves, beaches and sea caves.
• Game Fishing
  Whitianga is a centre for big game fishing from December to the end of April. Catches include tuna, black and striped marlin, mako, thresher sharks and kingfish. Whitianga Wharf offers boating and fishing charters.
• Ferry Landing and Front Beach
  Departing from Whitianga Wharf, a ferry crosses the harbour to Ferry Landing, where passengers alight at the oldest stone wharf in Australasia. A short walk leads to an old Maori pa (fortified village) site on the harbour edge, or walk up the hill to Front Beach, one of the bay's many lovely beaches. Cycles can be hired at the Ferry Landing store.
• Shakespear's Lookout
  This viewpoint from the top of the cliffs above Ferry Landing is the ideal place to enjoy panoramic views of the Bay.
• Swimming with the dolphins
  Dolphin Quest offer tours during summer, but they are dependent on sightings.
• Walks
  The area is known for its goldmining history and there are several walks to old mining sites. The Otama Forest Park Walkway leads through bush and farmland to an abandoned gold mine. There are also excellent walks across the estuary and through the bush at the Whitianga Rock Scenic & Historic Reserve. The Whitianga Information Centre has further details of walks in the area.
• Mercury Bay District Museum
  Located in the old dairy factory, the museum contains relics from the timber milling years during the early 1800s and displays on the visit of Captain Cook. Open daily during summer, and Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday off-season.
• Buffalo Beach
  The town's fine sandy beach takes its name from HMS Buffalo wrecked off the coast in 1840 while collecting kauri spars. There is safe swimming, fishing and shellfish collecting.
• Horse Treks
  Twin Oaks Riding Ranch offers horse treks over farmland and through native bush and streams.
• Arts and Crafts
  Visit a working pottery at Alan Rhodes Pottery, or make your own carving at Arts and Crafts at Bay Carving or the Bone Studio & Gallery. The Mercury Bay Craft Trail takes in local artists at work in their studios. Information is available at the visitor centre.
• Cooks, Hahei & Hot Water beaches
  A minibus at Ferry Landing provides transport to a string of fine, sandy beaches, including Hot Water Beach where, at low tide, visitors can dig a hole and relax in hot spring water. At Hahei, there is access to Cathedral Cove and the marine reserve from the lookout. Operators include Cathedral Cove Sea Kayaking.
• Matarangi Golf Links
  A 20 minute drive north of Whitianga, on stunning Matarangi Peninsula, this course was designed by golfing great Bob Charles. Hire equipment is available but bookings are essential during holidays.
• Wharekaho Bay
  An attractive bay located 6km north of Whitianga and renowned for its fine stand of native pohutukawa trees. One of the old trees fits a description in the journal of explorer Captain Cook, written in 1769.