Karamea

Karamea is a small town near the northern end of the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karamea and its local area are completely surrounded to the south, east and north by Kahurangi National Park.

Understand

Bridge Street

Karamea has a population of 360 in 2018 The town was first settled in 1874.

• 1 Karamea Information & Resource Centre, 106 Bridge Street, Market Cross. Summer daily 9AM-5PM. (updated Mar 2018)

Get in

By car

Karamea is 96 km north of Westport, near the end of the road north.

By bus

• Karamea Express run a minibus from Westport.
• Karamea Connections provide on-demand shuttles to and from walking tracks.

By plane

• 2 Karamea Aerodrome.  Golden Bay Air flies scheduled and on-demand flights from Nelson and Takaka, and on-demand flights from Wellington.

See

• 1 Karamea Centennial Museum. Summer W–Sa 1–4PM. (updated Mar 2018)

Do

• Kahurangi National Park the second largest of New Zealand's 13 national parks.

Longer walks

• Heaphy Track. The southern end of this 78-km track is 14 km north from Karamea. (updated Mar 2018)
• Wangapeka Track. The western end of this 59-km track is about 10 km south of Karamea. (updated Mar 2018)

Shorter walks & caves

• Honeycomb Hill caves. via Oparara Basin, the caves have 15 km of passages. As the caves are protected, they are only accessible by guided tour which can be customised by arrangement. (updated Mar 2018)
• Oparara Basin walks. There are a number walking tracks of from 1 km to 10 km in the Oparara Basin. (updated Mar 2018)
• The Fenians walks. The old gold diggings also have a range of walking tracks of 4 km to 14 km through forests with lots of different fungi. (updated Mar 2018)

Buy

• 1 Four Square Supermarket, 103 Bridge Street. M-Th 8:30AM-6PM, F 8:30AM-7PM, Sa 9AM-7PM, Su 9AM-5PM. (updated Mar 2018)

Eat and drink

• Vinnie's Cafe, 99 Bridge St, ☏ +64 27 781 1583. (updated Sep 2020)

Sleep

Karamea Village Hotel

• 1 Karamea Village Hotel. 9-room hotel and restaurant. from $130. (updated Mar 2018)
• 2 The Last Resort, 71 Waverley Street, ☏ +64 3 782 6617. 31-room hotel with backpacker dorms, ensuite rooms, studios and cottages, restaurant, cafe and bar. dorm bed $37, cottage $155. (updated Mar 2018)
• 3 Karamea River Motels, ☏ +64 3-782 6955. 
• 4 Wangapeka Backpackers Retreat/Farmstay, Wangapeka Valley Road, Little Wanganui, ☏ +64 3 782-6663, atawhai@wangapeka.co.nz. Set in 40 acres of rainforest and 20 acres of farmland, this is a small and personal family-run backpacker farm stay at the start of the Wangapeka Track and close to the Heaphy Track. Facilities are shared with the family, and meals are available on request. $20 dorm, $45 farm stay single, $75 farm stay double, camping $10, campervan $22. 

Go next

• Westport - a cute town with a cuter seal colony at Carter's Beach
• Punakaiki - the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes
• Greymouth - the largest town in the West Coast region