Abel Tasman is the smallest of the national parks at 237 square kilometres and by some distance the most benign. Granite headlands, beaches of pale golden sand, warm shallow water and a climate that gives Nelson around 2400 sunshine hours a year — the highest in the country.
The Coast Track
Sixty kilometres from Marahau to Wainui, three to five days, with barely a climb worth the name. It is a Great Walk and huts and campsites must be booked, in high season several months ahead. The genius of the route is that you do not have to walk it all: water taxis serve Anchorage, Torrent Bay, Bark Bay, Onetahuti and Totaranui, so you can walk one day and be collected, or be dropped at the far end and walk back.
Tides
Two sections cross tidal estuaries. Awaroa can be crossed only within about two hours either side of low tide, and people get this wrong every season. The Torrent Bay crossing saves an hour over the high-tide track. Tide tables are published at every hut and on the Department of Conservation site; plan the whole itinerary around them.
Kayaking
Sea kayaking is arguably the better way to see the park. Guided and freedom rentals both operate from Marahau and Kaiteriteri, and the standard trip combines paddling with a water-taxi return. The Tonga Island Marine Reserve holds a New Zealand fur seal colony where pups play in the shallows in late summer, and little blue penguins are common. Stay 20 m from seals.
Beaches
Anchorage, Bark Bay, Onetahuti and Totaranui are the classics. Totaranui is reached by a gravel road over the hill from Takaka and has a large campground; it is the only part of the park accessible by ordinary car from the north.
Nelson
The nearest city, 60 km away, claims the geographic centre of New Zealand and marks it with a hill you can walk up in twenty minutes. It has a Saturday market, a strong crafts tradition, the World of WearableArt museum, and more breweries per head than anywhere else in the country. Nelson is also the gateway to the Nelson Lakes and Kahurangi parks.
Golden Bay
Over the Takaka Hill lies a valley that feels separate from the rest of the country. Te Waikoropupu Springs discharge 14,000 litres a second of some of the clearest fresh water ever measured — sacred to Ngati Tama and Te Atiawa, and not to be entered. Farewell Spit, a 26 km sand bar, is a wetland of international importance and can be visited only on licensed tours.
When to go
December to March for swimming and settled weather. Bookings for huts open months ahead and the popular nights sell out. Shoulder months of November and April are quieter and still warm enough to walk comfortably.