We left Waitomo early and only had an hour drive to Hamilton so we decided to make a detour to Raglan, a small surf town.

What a wonderful surprise this place turned out to be.  It was bustling with tourists enjoying the sunny day and various shops and eateries.  

We walked around a bit, checked out a few shops and had lunch at Wyld.

This place had a super cool vibe.  We both wished we would have stayed over night here!

Bridal Veil Falls

Bridal Veil falls drops an impressive 55 meters through the lush forest of Raglan.

This is definitely one of the most impressive waterfalls we’ve seen! 

The pure force of the water coming down caused it to bounce off the pool of water at the bottom!

It is super easy to get to and you have the option to experience the waterfalls from 4 different lookouts.  

There are 261 stairs down through a thick pocket of native bush, it feels peaceful, wild, and a little bit magical.

My favorite view was at the bottom looking up at the magnificent force of nature.

Ngarunui Beach

Raglan is known for its black sand beaches and I just had to see them.

The first beach we went to was called Ngarunui Beach and it is a famous left surf spot.

This is the main beach of Raglan and is great for swimming and surf lessons.

There is a beautiful lookout over the entire bay.  Just to the right of the lookout is a little, not well-traveled trail down to the beach.

We walked the span of the beach which is simply stunning.

Te Toto Gorge

Te Toto Gorge is not super easy to get to as you have to drive along a very narrow, gravel road 5km to reach it.

This site has dramatic views of the west coast and the Tasman Sea. Rich in Māori history.

It was a truly lovely day visiting Raglan, but we were off to Hamilton next.

Our blog posts run 6 weeks behind actual live events.  

We visited Raglan in early February 2026.