After having visited the South Island of New Zealand a few times we decided to go off the beaten path and visit the Catlins in the far south eastern corner of the South Island. An often overlooked place in favour of more big ticket items, we found the Catlins to be remote, uncrowded and beautiful. If you like nature, you will like the Catlins.
Where we stayed
We stayed at Kaka Point, which is relatively central in the Catlins area and about 30 minutes to an hour to most attractions in the Catlins. Importantly, it is only a 10 minute drive from the Nugget Point lighthouse, one of the key attractions in the area. It is a lovely location for families being next to the beach, although the surf can be rough, so just playing in the sand is recommended.
Top 5 things to do in the Catlins with kids
1. Find a waterfall
Our little ones enjoyed exploring rainforest trails to discover some of the waterfalls in the area. The hikes are short and easily manageable with young kids. In terms of the pay-off, it’s a small effort for a big pay-off. You can’t actually see it from the way the photo is framed, but this particular waterfall cascades in 3 separate tiers. The top tier is unfortunately obscured by the rock in the foreground.
2. Visit Nugget Point lighthouse
This is one of the big ticket items in the area and didn’t disappoint.
Firstly, the drive there from Kaka Point involved following the coastline and was a great opportunity to spot seals basking on the beach. As my son pointed out, there were even road signs warning of seals for the next few kms! On the road up to the Nugget Point lighthouse there is also a turnoff for a bird hide to see Yellow-Eyed Penguins coming back to their burrows. We made the short 10 minute trek out to the hide, but unfortunately we didn’t see any penguins when we were there – although more patience may have been rewarded.
The lighthouse itself clings onto a spectacular clifftop location with little nuggets of land scattered throughout the surrounding ocean. Hence the name ‘Nugget Point’. It is a reasonably flat 20 minute walk from the carpark and is easily manageable for kids. The path does at times have a steep drop-off to the ocean on one side so care needs to be taken with younger children. The elevated viewpoint along the path does allow opportunities to distract the kids from the walk by pointing out the seals on the rocks below which is a bonus.
3. Explore jaw-dropping sea caves
This is one of the big ticket items in the Catlins and it is well worth planning your trip to ensure it is open when you visit. The caves are certainly worthy of the name, with the ceiling reaching heights of up to 30 metres in places. We were also lucky enough to see a fairy penguin in the back of the cave.
NB: The Cathedral Caves can only be accessed outside of Winter and at low tide. Check the official website at https://www.cathedralcaves.co.nz/ for details of gate opening hours. It should also be noted there is a modest entrance fee to access the cave.
Access to the cave is via a 1km steep track down to the beach then a short walk across the beach to the caves. It is easily doable with small children. The entrance to the cave is pictured below. You will note that even at low tide you can expect to get wet when accessing the cave. Wearing Crocs or similar would be the best footwear for this adventure.
The photo below is looking back to the entrance of the cave. When you follow the cave around to the back, it connects to an adjoining cave in a U-shape. The kids had fun scaring each other from the pitch black cavities at the back of the cave!
Emerging into the other side of the cave.
Finally – the ‘money shot’. This is the view you will see in all the promotional materials and is what you see when you follow the cave around to the other side.
4. Access a secret beach through a tunnel
Ok so technically, this isn’t in the Catlins, but given it’s only an hour drive from Kaka Point I thought I would include Tunnel Beach just outside of Dunedin. Our little ones enjoyed ‘finding’ the secret beach by going through a hand-carved tunnel, playing in rock pools at said beach, and finding secret passageways and caves in the rocks. The adults enjoyed the beach surrounded by an amphitheatre of cliffs, and the stunning views of the coastline on the walk down to the beach.
The walk from the carpark itself is spectacular. The ocean vistas stretch out to the horizon and at times it feels as if you are walking into the ocean itself. Once you reach the end of the gravel path you will be met with the entrance to the tunnel.
Apparently if you bring a torch and walk slow enough, you can see fossils embedded in the tunnel walls. It was a bit busy whilst we were there so we didn’t have time to linger in the tunnel.
At the end of the tunnel you will emerge onto a secluded beach that can only be accessed via the tunnel. See if you can spot the tunnel entry and exit in the photo below! There is also a cave in the cliff the kids enjoyed exploring, see if you can spot that too.
Once on the beach the kids managed to discover a gap between in the cliff which led to a nice sea cave.
The view from the sea cave is pictured below. You can access it from the beach as well but going through the secret passageway is more fun 
If you are feeling brave you can also walk out to the tip of the little peninsula formed by the cliffs. Access is before you get to the tunnel entrance. We didn’t do it as we had young kids, but saw many other people heading out there for a look with no issues.
5. Look for sealife and fossils at Curio Bay
The jade-coloured waters of Curio Bay are sure to pique the curiosity of your young ones. The cliffs at Curio Bay are a great place to spot the rare Hector’s dolphin. Failing that, there is also the fossilised jurassic forest nearby that is accessible at low-tide. The kids were intrigued to learn that the trees had turned into stone and were as old as the dinosaurs.
Unfortunately the brilliant green colour of the water at Curio Bay doesn’t really come through in the above photo, you will have to visit to see for yourself!
Our kids were really intrigued by the petrified forest – they couldn’t believe it was stone as it looked exactly like trees that had fallen down. Unlike some other fossil sites, there is no need for them to look at abstract shapes and patterns in the rock and try to figure out what it actually is.
Things to do on the way to the Catlins
We drove to the Catlins from Queenstown and non-stop it will take about 3 hours from Queenstown to Kaka Point. If you are driving from Queenstown, you will pass the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre with many vintage planes on show (with most of them still working). They even offer vintage biplane rides for the adventurous. The kids enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their legs in the big hangar and marvel at all the different kinds of planes they had there. And this adult certainly enjoyed it too.
A restored Tiger Moth above. They offer joyrides in this plane if you are keen.
More modern planes are also present.
One of only 2 airworthy de Havilland Dragonfly’s left in the world.
I didn’t catch the name of this plane unfortunately but it looked nice and shiny so I took a photo.