Karamea
Karamea is a small town near the northern end of the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karamea and its local area are completely surrounded to the south, east and north by Kahurangi National Park.
Understand
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Karamea had a population of approx. 650 in 2020; the town was first settled in 1874.
- 🌍 Karamea Information & Resource Centre, 106 Bridge Street, Market Cross. Summer daily 9AM-5PM.
Get in
By car
Karamea is 96 km north of Westport, near the end of the road north.
By bus
- Karamea Express runs a minibus from/to Westport, and offers on-demand shuttles to and from walking tracks.
By plane
- 🌍 Karamea Aerodrome. Golden Bay Air flies scheduled and on-demand flights from/to Nelson, Takaka, and Wellington.
Get around
See
- 🌍 Karamea Centennial Museum. Summer W–Sa 1–4PM.
Do
- Kahurangi National Park the second largest of New Zealand's 13 national parks.
Longer walks
- Heaphy Track. The southern end of this 78-km track is 14 km north from Karamea.
- Wangapeka Track. The western end of this 59-km track is about 10 km south of Karamea.
Shorter walks & caves
- Honeycomb Hill caves. via Oparara Basin, the caves have 15 km of passages. As the caves are protected, they are only accessible by guided tour which can be customised by arrangement.
- Oparara Basin walks. There are a number walking tracks of from 1 km to 10 km in the Oparara Basin.
- The Fenians walks. The old gold diggings also have a range of walking tracks of 4 km to 14 km through forests with lots of different fungi.
Buy
- 🌍 Four Square Supermarket, 103 Bridge Street. M-Th 8:30AM-6PM, F 8:30AM-7PM, Sa 9AM-7PM, Su 9AM-5PM.
Eat and drink
- Vinnie's Cafe, 99 Bridge St, ☏ +64 27 781 1583, vinniesworld@rocketmail.com.
Sleep
- 🌍 Karamea Village Hotel. 9-room hotel and restaurant. from $130.
- 🌍 The Last Resort, 71 Waverley Street, ☏ +64 3 782 6617. 31-room hotel with backpacker dorms, ensuite rooms, studios and cottages, restaurant, cafe and bar. dorm bed $37, cottage $155.
- 🌍 Karamea River Motels, ☏ +64 3-782 6955.
- 🌍 Wangapeka Backpackers Retreat/Farmstay, Wangapeka Valley Road, Little Wanganui, ☏ +64 3 782-6663, atawhai@wangapeka.co.nz. Set in 40 acres of rainforest and 20 acres of farmland, this is a small and personal family-run backpacker farm stay at the start of the Wangapeka Track and close to the Heaphy Track. Facilities are shared with the family, and meals are available on request. $20 dorm, $45 farm stay single, $75 farm stay double, camping $10, campervan $22.
Connect
Go next
- Westport - a cute town with a cuter seal colony at Carter's Beach
- Punakaiki - the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes
- Greymouth - the largest town in the West Coast region