Abel Tasman

he Abel Tasman is one of our most accessible national parks. 

It's as much about the water as it is about bush. It is famous for its protected azure water, separated from green bush by a strip of golden sand.

Read about the Abel Tasman Family here
The Abel Tasman is one of our most accessible national parks. 

It's as much about the water as it is about bush. It is famous for its protected azure water, separated from green bush by a strip of golden sand.

Access to the Abel Tasman is about 6 km from the centre of Motueka. You can walk in from Marahau, or you can catch a water taxi straight off the beach at Kaiteriteri.

There are lodges within the park, some private homes and you can choose between two walks or kayak around the coast. This really is a national park that everyone can use — not only those of a strappingly fit nature!

At 22,530 hectares, Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest national park. Two tracks, one inland and one coastal, run through the Park.

New Zealand’s Great Walks

The Abel Tasman Coast Track is maintained to an extremely high standard and is on of the Department of Conservation’s Great Walks. The best known section is from Tasman Bay, 38 km from Marahau in the South, to Totaranui in the North. The entire Coast Track continues a further 13 kms North into the Wainui Inlet, Golden Bay.

The Abel Tasman Inland Track runs for 38 kms through the hilly centre of the Park. It is more arduous with fewer facilities than the Coast Track.

Climate

The Abel Tasman park has a mild climate that is comfortable year-round. Average daily temperatures vary by only 10 degrees C and rain is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. Most native trees are evergreens, so the forest is green and vibrant throughout the seasons.

Features

The most noticeable features of this park are the golden sandy beaches, the fascinating rocky outcrops (mainly granite but with a scattering of limestone and marble) and the rich, unmodified estuaries. The landscape has been modified, perhaps more than in our other national parks.

The vegetation cover varies and reflects a history of fires and land clearance, but the forests are regenerating well especially in damp gullies where a rich variety of plants can be found. Black beech dominates the drier ridges.

The more common forest birds, like tui and bellbirds, can be seen along with pukeko around the estuaries and wetlands.

The park's boundary excludes the estuaries and seabed but in 1993 the Tonga Island Marine Reserve was created along one part of the Abel Tasman coast. Like a national park, all life in the reserve is protected.

Accommodation

Backpacker accommodation, motels and lodges are available in the towns near the Park. 
Within the Park boundaries, Awaroa Lodge operates hotel-style accommodation, and Wilsons Abel Tasman operate the only two private beachfront lodges, Torrent Bay Lodge and Meadowbank Homestead – Awaroa Bay.

If visitors choose not to stay in private accommodation, they can stay overnight in DoC huts and campsites: four huts along the Coast Track, four huts Inland and 20 campsites throughout the Park with a water supply and toilets.

All Coast Track huts and campsites must be booked before travelling into the Park. 


The nearest towns are Motueka, Takaka and Kaiteriteri. Roads lead to Marahau and Totaranui at either end of the Coast Track (1.5 and 2.5 hours from Nelson) and provide access to the Inland track system. There is restricted road access (4WD drive only) to the Awaroa Inlet from Takaka.

There are regular and on-demand bus services to the park from local towns and from Nelson. Launch and water taxi services run between Kaiteriteri and Totaranui.

Abel Tasman history

For at least 500 years Maori lived along the Abel Tasman coast, gathering food from the sea, estuaries and forests, and growing kumara on suitable sites.

European arrival

Most occupation was seasonal but some sites in Awaroa estuary were permanent. The Ngati Tumatakokiri people were resident when, on 18 December 1642, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman anchored his two ships near Wainui in Mohua (Golden Bay), the first European to visit Aotearoa – New Zealand. Four of his crew were lost in a skirmish with the local people and soon moved on.

French explorer, Dumont D’Urville, provided reliable maps of the Abel Tasman coast in 1827. His interactions with local Maori were friendly and productive.

Permanent European settlement began around 1855. The settlers logged forests, built ships, quarried granite and fired the hillsides to create pasture. For a time there was prosperity but soon the easy timber was gone and gorse and bracken invaded the hills. Little now remains of their enterprises.

A park is born

Concern about the prospect of more logging along the coast prompted a campaign, led by local naturalist Perrine Moncrieff, to have 15,000 hectares of crown land made into a national park. A petition presented to the Government suggested Abel Tasman's name for the park and it was duly opened in 1942 — the 300th anniversary of his visit.

Lease-hold land within the park was reclaimed by the Government but owners of freehold title were not obligated to sell their land. Therefore, unusually, small pockets of privately owned land remain with the boundaries of the National Park.

New Zealand’s Great Walks

The Abel Tasman Coast Track is maintained to an extremely high standard and is on of the Department of Conservation’s Great Walks. The best known section is from Tasman Bay, 38 km from Marahau in the South, to Totaranui in the North. The entire Coast Track continues a further 13 kms North into the Wainui Inlet, Golden Bay.

The Abel Tasman Inland Track runs for 38 kms through the hilly centre of the Park. It is more arduous with fewer facilities than the Coast Track.

Climate

The Abel Tasman park has a mild climate that is comfortable year-round. Average daily temperatures vary by only 10 degrees C and rain is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. Most native trees are evergreens, so the forest is green and vibrant throughout the seasons.

Features

The most noticeable features of this park are the golden sandy beaches, the fascinating rocky outcrops (mainly granite but with a scattering of limestone and marble) and the rich, unmodified estuaries. The landscape has been modified, perhaps more than in our other national parks.

The vegetation cover varies and reflects a history of fires and land clearance, but the forests are regenerating well especially in damp gullies where a rich variety of plants can be found. Black beech dominates the drier ridges.

The more common forest birds, like tui and bellbirds, can be seen along with pukeko around the estuaries and wetlands.

The park's boundary excludes the estuaries and seabed but in 1993 the Tonga Island Marine Reserve was created along one part of the Abel Tasman coast. Like a national park, all life in the reserve is protected.

Accommodation

Backpacker accommodation, motels and lodges are available in the towns near the Park. 
Within the Park boundaries, Awaroa Lodge operates hotel-style accommodation, and Wilsons Abel Tasman operate the only two private beachfront lodges, Torrent Bay Lodge and Meadowbank Homestead – Awaroa Bay.

If visitors choose not to stay in private accommodation, they can stay overnight in DoC huts and campsites: four huts along the Coast Track, four huts Inland and 20 campsites throughout the Park with a water supply and toilets.

All Coast Track huts and campsites must be booked before travelling into the Park. 


The nearest towns are Motueka, Takaka and Kaiteriteri. Roads lead to Marahau and Totaranui at either end of the Coast Track (1.5 and 2.5 hours from Nelson) and provide access to the Inland track system. There is restricted road access (4WD drive only) to the Awaroa Inlet from Takaka.

There are regular and on-demand bus services to the park from local towns and from Nelson. Launch and water taxi services run between Kaiteriteri and Totaranui.

Abel Tasman history

For at least 500 years Maori lived along the Abel Tasman coast, gathering food from the sea, estuaries and forests, and growing kumara on suitable sites.

European arrival

Most occupation was seasonal but some sites in Awaroa estuary were permanent. The Ngati Tumatakokiri people were resident when, on 18 December 1642, the Dutch seafarer Abel Tasman anchored his two ships near Wainui in Mohua (Golden Bay), the first European to visit Aotearoa – New Zealand. Four of his crew were lost in a skirmish with the local people and soon moved on.

French explorer, Dumont D’Urville, provided reliable maps of the Abel Tasman coast in 1827. His interactions with local Maori were friendly and productive.

Permanent European settlement began around 1855. The settlers logged forests, built ships, quarried granite and fired the hillsides to create pasture. For a time there was prosperity but soon the easy timber was gone and gorse and bracken invaded the hills. Little now remains of their enterprises.

A park is born

Concern about the prospect of more logging along the coast prompted a campaign, led by local naturalist Perrine Moncrieff, to have 15,000 hectares of crown land made into a national park. A petition presented to the Government suggested Abel Tasman's name for the park and it was duly opened in 1942 — the 300th anniversary of his visit.

Lease-hold land within the park was reclaimed by the Government but owners of freehold title were not obligated to sell their land. Therefore, unusually, small pockets of privately owned land remain with the boundaries of the National Park.

Read about the Abel Tasman Family here