Is Cathedral Cove Open?

When we read the Department of Conservation’s page on 8 November 2026, the Cathedral Cove walk was open for walking access. That page carries no date, and DOC closes the cove after heavy rain and whenever NIWA issues an orange or red weather warning for Hahei, so read DOC’s page on the morning you go (linked below). The boats see the cove from the water and need no track: Ocean Leopard - Cathedral Cove Boat Tours’ Whitianga: 2-Hour Cathedral Cove and Volcanic Coast Tour is from US$83 a person (checked November 2026).

The cruise runs 2 hours from Whitianga Wharf, and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before.

What DOC’s page said on 8 November 2026

The Department of Conservation keeps an issues page for the cove and Hahei, and a page for the walk itself. On the day we read them, 8 November 2026:

• The walk. Open for walking access; walking access was restored in December 2024. The area is naturally unstable, and closures can happen at short notice.
• Weather warnings. If NIWA issues an orange or red weather warning for Hahei, the track closes and the shuttles do not run.
• Heavy rain. “Do not visit Mautohe Cathedral Cove during or immediately after heavy rain. Landslide risk is high.” DOC closes the cove after heavy rain under its trigger plan for quick closure and reopening decisions.
• No alert. The walk’s page showed no alert, and neither page carried a date.

We print nothing beyond what DOC’s page said on that day. If you are reading this on another day, DOC’s page is the answer.

Closures since 2023

• February 2023 to December 2024. The cove was closed after Cyclone Gabrielle, until walking access was restored on 1 December 2024.
• 2025. DOC closed the tracks for weather in media releases of 16 April (Cyclone Tam, with a reopening release on 19 April), 28 July and 18 November 2025, and for two days in May 2025 (release of 5 May) to remove wilding conifers.
• January 2026. A storm closed the cove; DOC’s media release of 30 January 2026 said the tracks would reopen that weekend and urged caution for rockfall, slips and debris on the track and the beach.

The side tracks

Two shorter tracks near Hahei are a separate story. In July 2026 DOC said the Waimata–Gemstone Bay Track “will not be repaired a third time”, and in October 2026 talks continued on a new route for the Hahei Beach Short Walk. DOC’s page does not say whether either is open, so we do not either. The old coastal track from Hahei to Grange Road, where a large landslide occurred, is not being reopened (DOC, 30 January 2026).

When the track is shut: the sea route

The boats and kayaks are a different way to see the cove, not a way round a closure: they go out when the sea and the weather allow, and of the trips below only the kayak tour lands on the beach.

• From Whitianga. Ocean Leopard - Cathedral Cove Boat Tours cruises 2 hours along about 12 km of coast to the cove and back, seen from the water, from US$83.
• From Hahei Beach by boat. Hahei Explorer Cathedral Cove Boat Tour takes an hour, with the cove about 5 minutes away by boat, from US$71 (checked November 2026).
• From Hahei Beach by kayak. Cathedral Cove Kayak Tours paddles 3 hours and lands at the cove, from US$108.

Check the Whitianga cruise

The day tours from Auckland plan for a closed track too. If weather stops access to the cove, Expedigo NZ's day offers a full refund even when other stops are arranged; on Cheeky Kiwi Travel's day, the guide arranges an alternative if the track is closed. A reviewer of Cheeky Kiwi Travel’s day in October 2026 found barriers at the site in a storm and was told there would be no refund.

Is there an access fee?

No. In November 2026 the Department of Conservation listed Mautohe / Cathedral Cove among four places where it is investigating access charges for international visitors. A law has to pass first, DOC expects regulations in time for summer 2027/28 at its own estimate, and no amount has been set.