Can You Dig It?
Dig a hole, man. If you can dig a hole in the sand at Hot Water Beach you'll have the grooviest natural jacuzzi around. Except maybe for the guy next to you that's digging his way to China.
Hot Water Beach, in the town of Hahei on the picturesque Coromandel peninsula, lies above underground hot springs which, if accessed through the sand around low tide, filter up to the surface creating your very own steaming hot spa. Cue the bluegrass, banjo music because, twice a day, anxious visitors wielding their spades and buckets swarm the beach trying to strike water pay dirt like gold prospectors.
And once somebody does, it's like urban sprawl: beach version! Others crowd in and start feverishly shoveling for their own hot spot in the area until, what appears to be, a shallow, bathing suit-clad community is formed. Sand borders are even built up to define spa space. But the hot water doesn't swell up with every hole dug. You've got to find just the right spot. So people are really digging out there.
I was one of those people. The thought of lounging in the warm waters of my personal hot tub-with-a-view helped eradicate the undeniable lower back pain setting in with each shovel-full of sand. So I dug and dug and dug some more.
I never did hit hot water but suppose I am richer for the experience. Right on, man.
Catch you on the flip side.
My Big Dig at Hot Water Beach
Digging frenzy at Hot Water Beach
