On a cold July evening, with the Kaimai Range already dark, the best place to be near Katikati is up to your neck in spring-fed water. There are two hot springs pools within 13 km of town, and they are more different than their names suggest. Katikati hot springs mean a choice between Sapphire Springs, a big family park in native forest south-west of town, and Athenree Hot Springs, a smaller, hotter pair of mineral pools to the north.
Here is how they compare on water temperature, hours, children and staying the night, plus the other warm water in town when neither suits.
Hot springs near Katikati at a glance
There are two thermal-pool holiday parks near Katikati: Sapphire Springs, about 5 km south-west of the town centre in 32 hectares of bush, and Athenree Hot Springs, about 12.6 km north in Athenree.
Sapphire has more pools and more space, with water from a natural warm spring at 30 to 32°C and hot tubs at about 38°C. Athenree has fewer pools but hotter water, up to 39.5°C in its adults' pool. Both parks let day visitors swim, and both have campsites and cabins if you want to stay.
For a family day with room for kids to run between swims, Sapphire is the pick. For a short, hot soak on the way to or from Waihi Beach, Athenree is closer to the coast road.
Sapphire Springs
Sapphire Springs Holiday Park and Mineral Pools has three warm outdoor pools fed by a natural spring, two hot tubs and two private spas, set in native forest at the foot of the Kaimai Range on Hot Springs Road.
The park is family-owned and covers 32 hectares of native bush beside a stream. The entry price covers everyone using the pools, the park, the barbecue area and the bush walks, whether or not every member of your group swims, which makes it an easy call for a mixed group of swimmers and walkers.
Children have a playground and mini-golf when they tire of the water, and there is plenty of flat grass for a ball game or a frisbee between swims.
Opening hours: the pools open daily from 8am, including public holidays, and the private spas from 9am. Sapphire lists its closing time as 7pm on its own site, while older listings give 8pm, so check before a late visit. Phone ahead to find out when pools are closed for cleaning.
Getting there: Sapphire is about five minutes' drive from Katikati along Hot Springs Road, about 30 minutes north of Tauranga and about two hours south of Auckland. The Tuahu Track into the Kaimai Range starts from the end of the same road.
Athenree Hot Springs
Athenree Hot Springs and Holiday Park, in Athenree about 12.6 km north of Katikati, has two natural mineral pools: a larger family pool at 33 to 35°C and a smaller adults' pool at 39.5°C.
The larger pool averages 1.3 metres deep and has a shallow section for toddlers. The smaller pool is set aside for adults to relax in, and at 39.5°C it runs hotter than any of the pools at Sapphire Springs.
The complex has a change room with toilets, showers and heated floors, a detail you appreciate getting out on a winter afternoon. The pools are open daily from 10am to 7:30pm, to the public and to holiday park guests.
Athenree sits just off State Highway 2 on the way to Waihi Beach, so it fits naturally into a drive north along the coast, or an afternoon at the beach followed by a soak.
The numbers side by side
Put the two parks next to each other and the differences are clear. Sapphire Springs: three spring-fed pools at 30 to 32°C, two hot tubs and two private spas at about 38°C, pools from 8am daily, 32 hectares of bush, about 5 km from Katikati. Athenree Hot Springs: a family mineral pool at 33 to 35°C with a toddler section, an adults' pool at 39.5°C, open 10am to 7:30pm daily, about 12.6 km from Katikati.
Which hot pools suit you: Sapphire or Athenree?
Choose Sapphire for space, bush and a full family day; choose Athenree for hotter water, an adults' pool and a quicker stop near the coast.
Sapphire suits families with young children, because of its dedicated small pool, playground and mini-golf, and groups who want to combine a swim with a bush walk. Its pools are warm rather than hot, which is easier for little ones to stay in for a long time.
Athenree suits couples and adults after a proper hot soak, and anyone heading to or from Waihi Beach. Its toddler section means families can go too, but it is a smaller complex with less to do out of the water.
If you can only do one and you have a whole afternoon, Sapphire gives you more. If you have an hour and want heat, Athenree.
Staying the night at a hot springs holiday park
Both parks have accommodation, so you can soak after dinner and again before breakfast without driving anywhere.
Sapphire has powered and unpowered campsites, a backpacker-style lodge, cabins, self-contained motel units and a five-bedroom bungalow, and motorhomes are welcome. Athenree has cabins and powered sites beside its pools.
If neither suits, there are motels in town, country cottages and a glamping site among the other options for a cabin, a campsite or a motel room around Katikati.
Dave Hume Pools: the heated town pool
In the warmer months, Katikati's own public swimming pool, Dave Hume Pools on Carisbrooke Street, is heated, and it is the one built for lane swimming and lessons rather than soaking.
There is a grassed bank beside the pools for picnics, and barbecues can be hired. The pools generally open for the September or October school holidays and close in the last week of April, so they are a summer option only.
Splash Swim School runs swimming lessons at the pool through a programme designed by the Dave Hume Pool Trust, from preschool children up.
Katikati Naturist Park
The Katikati Naturist Park, west of town on Wharawhara Road, has its own pool, spa and sauna for guests, and welcomes day visitors. It is a naturist holiday park, so it suits people who prefer to swim without clothes; for everyone else, Sapphire and Athenree are the family choice.
The best time for a soak
Winter is when the hot pools earn their keep. July nights in Katikati average about 5°C, and the difference between a cold car park and 38°C water is the whole appeal. A cold July night is the best argument for Sapphire's hot tubs or Athenree's adults' pool.
In summer, both parks double as busy holiday parks, with campers and day visitors sharing the pools. Sapphire opens at 8am, which makes an early swim before the day gets going an easy option.
Between swims, the murals and the Haiku Pathway in town are about five minutes' drive from Sapphire.
If you are new to the area, the orchard town just down the road is worth an hour of its own before or after a soak.
Frequently asked questions
Published July 26, 2026
