Location: Raglan, New Zealand
Last weekend, a crew of us locals from Raglan headed out on the water, including Chris J, Chris G, Briar, Alyssa and her friend, Libby, Jai, Isa, Zac, Hannah, Kitty, and myself.
We kayaked from Lorenzen Bay to Okete Falls in Raglan. The paddle took us about 30-45 minutes one way going with the tide. When we got to the falls we saw some guys jumping from the cliffs into the falls. We went up and asked them if it was safe, and they said they had dived down and checked for rocks and logs, and we should only jump at high tide and that you must jump where the waterfall is falling as this is the safest and deepest spot. So first we thanked them for this info then decided to have a break on the rocks and pulled our kayaks up on land. We had a coffee and some snacks, which we had brought along. Then Chris took of to do some exploring. He came back and said he had something to show us, so off we went. We explored the bush to the side of the water falls, where Chris showed us rock pools of whitebait with thousands in each pool.
Next it was time to jump off the waterfall! The sun was out and we were hot. We rock climbed up the side of the bank, which was slippery and challenging but this made it even more fun.
Once we got to the top we each took turns jumping off. It was loads of fun, definitely a bit of an adrenaline rush. We enjoyed exploring our area, some of the group have lived here in Raglan for 10 years and never kayaked to these waterfalls.
After this we wanted to explore the second water fall, Zac decided to swim under the water fall and get behind it. He said the view from behind it was amazing and I personally think that hanging behind a waterfall has a magical feeling.
Libby and myself decided to try to swim behind the waterfall, but unfortunately we were unable to, due to the sheer force of the water that just keep pushing us away. We decided we will definitely do it, just maybe another day.
We decided to head back and took JD’s advice to hug the coast line for less wind and we found some nice glassy bays on our way back. We kayaked under the pohutakawa trees, which for this time of year was magic. We saw a lot of bird life, and most noticeably we saw a Canadian Goose. I would highly recommend this paddle, it was amazing.
Top Tips
- Hire the kayaks off JD Raglan Adventures and get a map off him as well
- Leave two hours before high tide
- Only jump at the falls on high tide and dive down to check for logs and rocks and objects can move under the falls over night
- Only go with wind speeds at 20 knots or less otherwise it’s not that enjoyable