Tunnel Beach is a unique, spectacular spot to visit on New Zealand’s South Island. Here is a quick overview of the walk that’s left us impressed every time we’ve visited.
New Zealand is well known for all the long, world famous walks, such as the Milford Track and Routeburn Track. Fortunately for many people not all the scenic beauty of New Zealand requires a multi-day undertaking to see. There are many short day walks that will allow you to see some remarkable areas. Tunnel Beach is one such short walk that you can’t miss.
Tunnel Beach Overview
Highlights – Beautiful headlands, ocean, waves, natural arches, eroded bluffs, fun boulders to climb on, and a tunnel leading to a secluded cove.
Location – South Island, just south of Dunedin.
Length of Walk – About 2 km round trip
Difficulty – Easy to Moderate. I only list this as moderate because the trail drops straight down to the cliffs from the car park. This means when you return you have to walk up a steep trail, luckily it is very short.
The Short Hike To Tunnel Beach
Finding tunnel beach is one of the hardest parts of this walk. If you have a good map and use some mapping software you should have no problems. The car park is located at the top of some bluffs to the east of Green Island.
Tunnel beach, like most spots, is becoming more well known, which means lots of people. That’s OK because this place is super cool. The tunnel itself is cool, but the cliffs and beach are also pretty great.
As you start the steep walk down from the carpark you will begin to get amazing views out over the sea and you’ll soon see the tops of the bluffs below you.
Once you get to the bottom of the trail you will find yourself on the clifftops above the cove. On a good day you may see swells rolling in and crashing against the sandstone cliffs. The noise from the waves crashing is loud and you can see spray flying up in the air.
If you dare you can wander up a worn trail to the top of a cliff and see how close to the edge you dare go (we didn’t get too close).
Then you can head back down to the point the tunnel leaves the bluffs and goes down to the beach. The tunnel is a narrow staircase through the sandstone that often has water dripping off the sides or even running underfoot.
The story I’ve heard is that a rich man had the tunnel built for his family so that they could go to the beach and have some privacy. It’s pretty amazing that this tunnel was built to this remote spot outside Dunedin.
After exploring the bluffs, listening to the surf pounding the cliffs, exploring the tunnel and beach you get to climb back uphill to the carpark. It’s a short, heart pounding 15 minute walk to the top.
My Insider Tips
I would try and visit Tunnel Beach at low tide. It’s possible to visit any time of day, but at high tide you may not be able to see much of the cove at the end of the tunnel. We came once at high tide and there was no beach at the end of the tunnel. Later we checked it out at low tide and had a delightful time exploring the soft sand beach and wading in the water. At low tide you may even find some cool caves that are full of water at high tide.
The beach at the end of the tunnel is not exactly a swimmers paradise. It is a small cove that is rocky at high tide and has some lovely sand at low tide. I have no desire to swim there, but once when we were there a brave young guy went for a swim. The daughter of the man who built the tunnel actually drowned here…bummer after he went to so much effort to build the tunnel.