Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colony

Cape Kidnappers is a long wedge of pale rock running out into the sea at the southern end of Hawke Bay, its cliffs banded and eroded into sharp ridges. On the flat ground at the end, thousands of Australasian gannets nest in the open in tight, evenly spaced colonies, close enough that you stand a few metres away and watch birds land, quarrel and take off again. It is one of the few places where a large gannet colony can be reached on foot. The walk in follows the beach below the cliffs and works only around low tide; tractor-trailer and four-wheel-drive tours cover the same ground for anyone who would rather not walk it.

The landscape

• The plateau colony - rows of nesting gannets on the open ground at the cape's end.
• The cliff walk - the shore route below banded, eroding cliffs, timed to the tide.
• The birds in the air - gannets circling and diving offshore around the headland.
• The bay view - the long curve of Hawke Bay running back towards Napier.

When to go

The colony is occupied from late spring, with chicks through summer and the birds gone by autumn, so November to February is the window. The beach walk depends on tides rather than dates: you start a few hours before low water and must be back before the tide returns. Tours run to a fixed timetable and book out over January.

Before you go

The walk is long in both directions over shingle and sand with no shade, and it is only possible in a tidal window that rockfall closures can override. Getting the timing wrong is genuinely dangerous. Tours are not cheap. The colony smells strongly and is noisy, and by late autumn there is nothing there at all. Wind on the exposed headland is constant.

Nearby

Te Awanga and the Hawke's Bay wine country are close, with Napier twenty minutes north.