Best Free Hot Pools Near Rotorua

Free hot pools at a glance

Kerosene Creek

Kerosene Creek is Rotorua's best-known free hot pool: a warm geothermal stream that flows over a small waterfall into a pool surrounded by native bush. The water runs consistently hot, and the pool under the waterfall is deep enough to sit in.

How to get there

1. Drive south from Rotorua on State Highway 5 toward Taupō, about 30km.
2. Pass the Murupara turnoff on your left, then take the next left, about 500m further on and just past a small bridge. This is Old Waiotapu Road.
3. Follow the gravel forestry road for 2.2km and pull over on the grass verge on the right.
4. Walk a couple of hundred metres downhill beside the stream to the pools.

Facilities are basic at best. Visitors report a long-drop toilet and a corrugated iron changing shed at the car park, but there are no rubbish bins, and the car park fills up on weekends and holidays. Go early in the morning or on a weekday for the quietest soak.

Hot 'n' Cold

Hot 'n' Cold is where a hot thermal stream and a cold freshwater stream meet either side of a small bridge near Waiotapu. Small dams have created shallow pools, and you can shift toward the hot side or the cold side until you find a comfortable temperature. That is why some visitors rate it above Kerosene Creek, which can run too hot for some people.

How to get there

1. Drive south from central Rotorua, past Te Puia, onto State Highway 5. It is about 31km, roughly 25 minutes.
2. Turn onto Waiotapu Loop Road, opposite the Waiotapu Tavern.
3. Take the second turnoff along Waiotapu Loop Road and follow it about 100m to a small bridge.
4. Park on the roadside. The hot stream is on the Rotorua side of the bridge and the cold stream is on the other.

What to expect

The streambed is uneven, with sudden drops to thigh height, so it is not suitable for anyone with limited mobility, and you need to be able to move quickly if a surge of hotter water comes through. Expect grit and a sulphur smell. Broken glass and litter have been reported on the banks, so wear water shoes or jandals.

The Waiotapu Tavern area also has a small store selling coffee, pies and local honey, handy on the drive back.

Kuirau Park foot baths

A set of free, communal geothermal foot-soaking pools near the playground in Kuirau Park, on the edge of Rotorua's CBD. It is feet only, not a full soak, but it is the easiest free hot water in town, with no drive, no booking and no entry fee. The park around it has steaming lakes and bubbling mud pools behind fences. Bring your own towel.

Hot Water Beach, Lake Tarawera

At Hot Water Beach on Lake Tarawera, geothermal water seeps up through the sand at the water's edge, so you can dig your own warm pool with the cool lake right beside it. The beach itself is free, but getting there takes effort. It sits at the end of the Tarawera Trail, around 16km one way from the Te Wairoa car park on Tarawera Road, or you can pay for a water taxi. There is a basic DOC campsite at the beach if you want to stay the night.

Book any water taxi in advance, especially in summer, since it runs on demand and it is a long walk back.

Maurie Kjar Memorial Swimming Pool Complex, Kawerau

Kawerau's public pools are geothermally heated and free to enter, right in the town centre opposite the Kawerau i-SITE, about 45 minutes to an hour's drive east of Rotorua. The complex has a pool split into 25m and 5m sections, a spa pool, children's pools, a water park and upgraded changing rooms. It is not a natural pool, but it is the best free option for families or wet weather.

Normal hours are 8am to 6pm daily in summer and 9am to 6pm in winter. The complex closes for about three weeks of maintenance each October, and in spring 2026 hours were temporarily cut to 9am to 4:30pm because of a heating issue, so check with the pool on 07 323 6109 before you drive out.

It pairs well with a trip to Tarawera Falls, since the falls permit is also sold at the Kawerau i-SITE. Road access to the falls is only allowed on weekends and public holidays.

Kerosene Creek or Hot 'n' Cold?

They are only a few minutes apart, so the simplest answer is to try both. For a fuller side-by-side, see Hot 'n' Cold vs Kerosene Creek.

Staying safe in natural hot pools

• Keep your head above the water. Untreated geothermal water in New Zealand carries a small risk of amoebic meningitis, which enters through the nose. Do not dunk, dive or splash your face, and keep an eye on children.
• Test the temperature before getting in, and move out quickly if the water suddenly gets hotter.
• Watch your footing on rocks and uneven streambeds.
• Go in daylight. None of these spots are lit, and the footing is harder to judge in the dark.
• Take everything out with you, including rubbish. There are no bins.
• Do not leave valuables in your car at unattended roadside car parks.

What to bring

A towel, water shoes or jandals, a change of clothes, drinking water and a bag for rubbish. Old togs are a good idea, since mineral water can discolour fabric.

A free hot pool to avoid: Waterfall Spout Bath

Older guides list the Waterfall Spout Bath near Waiotapu as a free hot pool. Do not go. It is on private land, with a trespass notice at the entrance gate, geothermal activity has since reshaped the pool and left the ground around it soft and unstable, and at least one bather has needed hospital treatment for burns from the hot sand. Stick to the spots above.

Paid alternatives

If you want facilities, reliable temperatures or treated water, Rotorua's paid pools include the Polynesian Spa and Wai Ariki Hot Springs on the lakefront, the mud baths at Hells Gate, and private sessions at Secret Spot Hot Tubs. At Waikite Valley Thermal Pools, campers staying at the on-site campground get free unlimited access to the pools, which makes it the best value if you want to stay near hot water.

Make it a half-day loop

Kerosene Creek, Hot 'n' Cold and the free Waiotapu Mud Pools are all off State Highway 5 south of Rotorua. Drive down in the morning, view the mud pools, soak at Hot 'n' Cold, then finish at Kerosene Creek before heading back to town for lunch.