Ngawha Springs

Ngawha Springs is a natural sodium hot spring complex near Kaikohe in Northland, New Zealand's northernmost region, where sodium-rich geothermal waters have been used for thermal bathing by the local Ngāpuhi Māori people since long before European contact, and continue to be managed as a community resource reflecting the profound Māori cultural and spiritual significance of geothermal waters as taonga (treasures) with spiritual power. The springs, known in Māori as Ngāwhā meaning boiling spring, feed a network of simple outdoor pools ranging from quite hot to comfortably warm, used within the intergenerational Māori thermal tradition passed down through local families and associated with relaxation and general wellbeing. Ngawha's relatively undeveloped, community-maintained character distinguishes it clearly from commercial thermal resorts, preserving the authentic Māori cultural relationship with the springs that makes this one of the most genuinely significant indigenous thermal sites in Aotearoa New Zealand.