Abel Tasman Coast Track

The Awaroa tidal crossing, explained properly

The track's main huts sit at Anchorage Bay, Bark Bay, Awaroa Inlet, and Whariwharangi Bay, with 18 campsites filling the gaps. The one crossing every walker plans around is Awaroa Inlet: at high tide it's a kilometre-wide river with no bridge and no all-tide track around it, but for roughly 1.5 hours before low tide to 2 hours after, it's walkable on foot. Get your timing wrong and you either wait several hours on the sand or detour well inland — check the tide tables for your actual dates before you fix your itinerary, not after.

Water taxis change the whole trip shape

Because water taxis service points like Torrent Bay and Onetahuti Bay, the Abel Tasman is the one Great Walk that's genuinely flexible about how much of it you walk. Plenty of visitors water-taxi in to a midpoint, walk one or two of the prettiest sections, and taxi back out — a real option if you can't get a full multi-day hut booking, or simply don't want one. Torrent Bay taxi drop-off runs 9am–12 noon only, and the Awaroa taxi drop-off is on the beach in front of Awaroa Lodge, a 30-minute walk from Awaroa Hut at low tide — plan the connection, don't assume it's instant.

Why it out-books every other Great Walk

Mild climate, golden-sand beaches, short daily distances, and proximity to Nelson make this the most accessible Great Walk for people who don't consider themselves serious trampers — which is exactly why total visitor numbers outstrip every other track on the list, even though its huts aren't always the single hardest booking of the morning the way Milford's are.