Te Waikoropupu Springs (February 10, 2026)
When your AirBnb host recommends a nearby hike, it’s best to heed her advice. We’re really glad we listed to this particular recommendation. Te Waikoropupu Springs boasts the second clearest water in the world (second only to the Antarctica according to the experts). In fact, they say:
Te Waikoropupū Springs are the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand, the largest cold water springs in the Southern Hemisphere and contain some of the clearest water ever measured.
So the obvious next question is, so how clear is “clear”? By one measurement, you could see 63 meters (207 feet)! It’s quite a sight to see once you realize you can stare to the bottom of this spring and have no sense of how deep it really is just by looking.
The clearest water I’ve ever looking into directly. Ripples are the spring.
The only “bummer” is that you are not allowed to touch the water or drink it (even if it’s some of the purest water in the world). That’s to maintain the purity of this spring. Imagine if every tourist who visited put their dirty hands and cups into the water … it wouldn’t remain so pure for very long. Besides, this area is sacred and part of their origin stories as described on the poster leading to the springs:
A description of why these springs are considered sacred
Once again, the walk to the springs was gentle and beautiful. It truly is a very short walk and less of a “hike” and more of a mosey. In other words, your Apple Watch won’t give you credit for any “exercise” in and around this location. But it sure is a wonderful walk to get there.
One thing to point out is that the only thing louder than the rushing white water around this spring are the cicadas. Oh my word … these insects LOUD!!! It’s a constant hum in the background, except when they get excited there a sort of crescendo. It’s not just this location, but everywhere we’ve been in nature in New Zealand. It doesn’t bother us as we have cicadas in New York too, but the chorus out here is its own experience. Here’s Violet staring deeply into one of them on a tree:
The cicada is almost invisible on this tree. Follow Violet’s nose …
Once we arrived at the spring, none of us knew what to expect. What we saw was a ton of water bubbling up to what looked like the clearest bottom of any lake we’d ever peered down into. The average swimming pool in the US holds between 30 to 100 cubic meters and this spring is pumping out 10 cubic meters per second. Imagine tipping over the deepest in-ground pool you’ve ever swam in … every ten seconds!!! That is a ton of water coming to the surface.
Clear springs pumping out 10 cubic meters of water per second!
Hmm. What would be the right “pose” in front of this spring? How about a tree pose? Yes, that should do just fine right here on this spot. When in nature, it’s fun to do a yoga pose and deepen my connection with nature. Fun for me, anyway. Elena is nervous watching me.
Tree pose in front of Te Waikoropupu Springs. Nice spot for yoga!
So we’ll need to get our exercise elsewhere for today, but I am so glad that we took the time to venture out here and check out this spring. Great walk. Great nature. Great experience overall. New Zealand is truly a paradise of natural beauty. This is one of many examples so far.
