To access the trailhead from the cruise port, head over to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and pass it, continue up the hill until you find an unmarked path in a field which heads left and leads to a parking lot which has the next sign to walk toward. Upon finding this sign, take a very short jaunt past the golf course (really?) and enter the forest at the next sign. For the next 3 1/4 miles, you get to hike through a forest with the most interesting/complex/R2D2 sounding birds called the Tui which was probably the most fascinating part of the hike. At about 1.7 miles, you encounter the iconic bridge which leads to the mangrove trees where you can take Instagram worthy photos. Before the falls, the path has a fork in the road that is (again) unmarked at which point you want to take the path up the hill through the turnstile. Upon arriving at the falls, you'll see a parking lot (you mean I could have driven here?) and toilets on the side. Taking photos at the falls is, of course, fun, but it was the Tui birds that I remember the most about this hike. read more

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Such a cool waterfall! I loved being able to see it from the top, and after a long road trip filled with lots of falls (and lots of hiking to get to those falls), I sincerely appreciated that the parking lot is less than a one minute walk to the falls. Because it's not a trek, the crowds do build up, and this isn't really the ideal spot to spend some time. There are picnic tables around if you're into that, but they are not looking at the falls - more so at the road. We found some stray chickens which were really pretty, they were just chilling around the falls. I would totally recommend checking this place out if you're in Paihia - it's a great photo spot! read more

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Brilliant! Great place to stop, not much of a car park so we parked on the road. Short walk to the waterfall, and several places to get good pictures. We were lucky there had been a lot of rain so the waterfall was in full flow! Well worth a visit! read more