Cathedral Cove, with its pristine beach and stunning rock formations, draws hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.

But it’s closed for business and locals are angry that the Department of Conservation has no timeline for re-opening. Tony Wall reports.

French backpacker Lilou Aigon​ wanders down the paved track to Cathedral Cove without a care in the world, undaunted by the warning signs she’s passed.

Aigon hitch-hiked to Coromandel, having heard Cathedral Cove - Te Whananui-A-Hei - along with Hot Water Beach, are must-sees. A local told her the track was officially closed, but not to worry.

“They told me, ‘don’t tell anyone, just do it’. I was like, ‘OK, thank you!’,” says the 21-year-old.

Lilou Aigon from France didn't let the danger signs put her off a hike to Cathedral Cove. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

So she walked through a gap in the hurricane fencing at the clifftop carpark, shimmied past a couple of road cones at the start of the track and set off towards the beach.

The 2.5km track, and several side tracks, have been officially closed since a slip caused by Cyclone Gabrielle in February took out a small section and some vertical steps leading to the beach.

Fences, road cones and wooden barriers across different parts of the walkway are designed to keep people away. But they don’t stop those determined to see what’s considered one of the most stunning natural beauty spots in the country – one that, in normal times, attracts up to 300,000 visitors a year.

The main track remains in good condition in most places, except at the slip. Many people are simply walking around it – it takes about 30 seconds – and clambering down a rock face to the beach. Some days there are dozens of people there.

About 45 minutes after Stuff saw Lilou on the track, she was on the beach, strolling along taking selfies.

French tourist Lilou Aigon by the slip that washed out steps to the Cathedral Cove beach. She and many others clambered down the rock face instead. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

The ease with which people are getting to the cove is proof for business owners in Hahei – the village just over the hill – that damage to the track is nowhere near as bad as the Department of Conservation has made out.

The department announced in August that walking routes to Cathedral Cove will not be re-opened for summer because of an ongoing risk of landslides and rockfall.

While people can continue to access the beach from the sea, they are “strongly urged” not to walk through the famous arch, where rocks have fallen as recently as August.

DOC claims there is no “quick fix” for the walkway.

Tinaka Mearns​, its regional director, says it’s “very disappointing” that people continue to use the track, despite the warnings and a rāhui placed by iwi Ngāti Hei.

While they are not committing an offence, she says, “there is a very real risk of potentially harmful rockfall and erosion at this beach”.

Tinaka points to a report by engineering firm Tonkin and Taylor, which talks about the hazardous nature of the cliffs above the beach and the potential complexity and difficulty of repairs.

A slip took out this section of the Cathedral Cove walkway, most of the rest of its 2.5km-long length is undamaged. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

“It is not as simple as carving a new track and installing some new stairs,” says Tinaka. “We need to come up with long-term, resilient solutions.”

But some locals feel DOC is using the report as an excuse to do nothing. Not everyone can afford the $100-plus to hire a kayak or boat to see the cove from the sea, they say, and DOC has a responsibility to the community to get the route opened as soon as possible.

Retired architect Doug Johnston, whose macadamia orchard has been affected by a drop in visitors to the area, disputes the suggestion the track can’t be easily fixed.

He inspected the damage and spent about a week drawing up designs, which he gave to DOC, for fixing the track with a land bridge over the slip. Tonkin and Taylor’s designs are similar.

Johnston estimates it would take six to eight weeks to implement his plan, at a cost of about $20,000.

DOC's announcement that the walkway will stay closed until next year is “absolutely ridiculous”, he says.

“It could have been repaired by now.”

Gary Fitzsimons​, managing director of Go Kiwi Shuttles says Cathedral Cove is the number one attraction on the Coromandel Peninsula and people will simply stay away when they hear it’s closed this summer.

He estimates the closure will cost the region between $80-$100m in tourism revenue.

A rockfall at Cathedral Cove, caused by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

Ferrying people from the park-and-ride in Hahei to the start of the track makes up about 60 per cent of his profit, Fitzsimons says.

“On Christmas Day I would carry an average [of] 700 people – and they’re just not going to be here. Half of our business is destroyed by [the closure of] SH25A – the other half is destroyed by DOC.”

His message to the department is simple: “Fix it – Tonkin and Taylor have told them they can fix it, there’s a cost to it, so fix it.

“Stop hiding behind the excuses of possible rockfalls – you can monitor anything nowadays – the rock that falls off in the cove has been going on for hundreds of years.”

Karen Vowles​, co-owner of the Pour House pub, says the closure of the cove, on top of the closure of SH25A, has been “catastrophic” for business.

In the nine years she's been in Hahei, she has seen the wooden steps at the Cathedral Cove beach repaired three times. She wonders why metal steps can’t be drilled into the rock.

That seven months after the cyclone nothing has been done, is not good enough, says Karen.

“There’s no communication, we’re not seeing anyone coming to speak to us.

“They need to... understand that everyone is hurting here – something needs to be sorted.”

A large slip at Cathedral Cove - the missing steps are to the right. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

The 33ha block of land that the Cathedral Cove track runs across was gifted to the Crown in 1972 by local farmers Vaughan and Dawn Harsant​, with the understanding it would be a recreation reserve for everyone to enjoy.

Karen says keeping the track shut “sticks the finger up to that wonderful gesture... It’s just not right”.

Dawn Harsant's son, Ian Carter, still lives on the farm, and in recent years spent hundreds of thousands of dollars developing a car park and track to give people an alternative route to Cathedral Cove.

Just prior to Covid, the car park was opened, with a $10 charge to park there all day.

Ian says he has closed his car park and track in a show of good faith towards DOC, but says the ongoing closure of the DOC track is “extremely frustrating”.

“We spent a lot of time and effort and money building our bit ... and since the 9th of February we’ve had nil income.”

He struggles to understand why DOC is “dragging its heels”. Sure, there is risk, he says, “but we're not talking about a kindergarten, we’re talking about a walkway”.

“DOC has got a social responsibility within the community as well – whether that’s in their matrix of decision-making, I don’t know.

“There’s a lot of businesses I don't think will actually survive the summer.”

Hahei resident and retired senior cop Ray van Beynen​ has obtained various reports and communications under the Official Information Act and is convinced the track can be fixed relatively easily.

He questions whether DOC has applied the same safety framework to Cathedral Cove as it does across all its sites.

“There has to be a consistency of approach,” says Ray. “We are talking about a walking track in a relatively benign environment. Tonkin and Taylor’s repair options are valid and should be instigated.”

Ray believes the track can be closed when required in the event of future extreme weather events.

Hadley Dryden​, general manager of Destination Hauraki Coromandel, says his organisation will continue to promote Cathedral Cove as accessible by sea this summer.

In an ideal world, the track would be fixed as soon as possible, he says, but he understands a process has to be followed.

“Cathedral Cove is an absolute icon for Hauraki-Coromandel and New Zealand as well – it's pretty important that a long-term solution is found.”

A makeshift gate across the walkway at Cathedral Cove features an unlocked door. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

Tinaka says DOC has determined the risks at Cathedral Cove are at the “top end of the scale” of what’s manageable for the type of visitors who go there – mostly day-trippers, many not properly dressed for the walk.

The department will continue to push the message that the cove is dangerous, she says, pointing out that “rocks the size of chilli bins” came down from the arch in August.

“We do not want people to get hurt ... and that’s why we’re constantly emphasising the tracks are closed.”

Some locals say DOC has a responsibility to keep the track open for business and tourism, but Tinaka says DOC is a land manager “not an economic development or business support agency”.

“Our role is to manage the site and visitor safety – not peripheral economic aspects related to it.”

Over summer, Tinaka says DOC will have “track ambassadors” at the site to explain the risks and encourage people to either visit other places in the district or visit the beach by boat or kayak.

“The message will be ‘see it from the sea’.”

Tony Wall/Stuff