Rotorua Hot Springs & Spas

For most visitors the best hot springs in Rotorua are the lakeside mineral pools at Polynesian Spa, with Wai Ariki for an adults-only wellness spa, Hell’s Gate for a mud bath and Secret Spot for a private tub at the edge of the forest. All four sell timed tickets on Viator or GetYourGuide, from $19 per person for Polynesian Spa’s Family Pools. What separates them is the water, the age rules, how long you get in it and whether you share it with strangers.

Our top picks

Prices are what the booking platforms show in US dollars. The venues’ own gate prices are in New Zealand dollars, so the two never match exactly. Our Rotorua hot pools prices page lines them up.

Lake views for everyone: Polynesian Spa

Polynesian Spa sits on the shore of Lake Rotorua at the edge of the city centre, with 28 hot pools fed by two springs. People have bathed at the Priest Spring here since 1878, and the current spa opened in 1972. The Deluxe Lake Spa is the pick for a first soak: five lakeside mineral pools between 36 and 41°C, a cold plunge, ten geothermally heated recliners and an indoor lounge, with towels, lockers, toiletries and hairdryers included. It takes all ages, children under two enter free, and it rates 4.6 from 409 reviews. Read our review for the full visit.

Adults and anyone 12 or over can pay less for the Pavilion Pools, from $31 per person and rated 4.4 from 447 reviews. You get acidic and alkaline pools, a deeper stand-up pool and a reflexology walk, but towels and lockers cost extra. Families head for the Family Pools, where a heated freshwater pool with a small hydroslide sits beside two alkaline mineral pools. Our Deluxe vs Pavilion comparison sets the three areas side by side, and the Polynesian Spa guide covers gate prices and hours.

Adults-only wellness: Wai Ariki

Wai Ariki opened on the Rotorua lakefront in 2023 and is owned by the local iwi, Ngāti Whakaue. Everyone bathing must be 16 or older, and the spa does not take pregnant guests for its bathing or thermal experiences. The Restorative Journey is a guided two-hour circuit: a blessing, then mineral, herbal and hydrotherapy pools with a cold plunge, a fire and ice room with saunas, a steam room and a geothermal mud lounge where you apply the mud yourself, all looking over the lake to Mokoia Island. A locker, robe and towel are included, and it rates 4.7 from 125 reviews. Read our review.

If you only have an hour, the 1-hour Restorative Bathing ticket covers five pools, including the cold plunge and the herbal pool, with a towel and locker but no robe. Couples can book the Private Luxury Geothermal Bath, two tubs in a private room, from $152 per group of up to two. It has only four reviews so far. The Wai Ariki guide has the hours and rules, and Polynesian Spa vs Wai Ariki helps if you are torn between the two lakefront spas.

Mud bathing: Hell’s Gate

Hell’s Gate is at Tikitere, just outside the city: east on State Highway 30, past the airport, then 3 km down the Whakatāne road. Māori have used the mud and sulphur water here for more than 800 years. The Geothermal Walk & Mud Spa combines a walk through the active reserve (1 to 1.5 hours, self-guided or with the free guided tours at 10:30am and 2:30pm) with a mud bath, sulphur spas, a cool plunge and a Māori carving session. With 1,277 reviews and a 4.7 rating, it is the most-reviewed listing on this site. Read our review.

The mud bath is limited to 20 minutes per person per day, and children must be at least 2.5 years old for the mud (six months for the sulphur spa). The minerals tarnish most jewellery and leave a sulphur smell on swimwear, so wear an old costume. Towels and swimwear are not included but can be hired at reception. If you want the bathing without the walk, the Mud Bath & Sulphur Spas ticket starts from $52 per person. The reserve is also home to Kākahi Falls, billed as the largest hot waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere. Our Hell’s Gate guide and Rotorua mud baths page go further.

A private tub in the forest: Secret Spot

Secret Spot sits beside the Whakarewarewa Forest on Waipa State Mill Road, at the mountain bike car park. Its cedar tubs are filled with heated fresh spring water, not geothermal water, so think of it as a private hot tub in the trees. The Forest Hot Tub Soak gives your group its own tub for 45 minutes, with cold plunge tubs, lockers and drinking water included. Towels, robes and swimwear are for hire, food and drinks are for sale, and children from five can join. At 4.8 from 634 reviews it is the highest-rated of our four main picks, and the same ticket is also sold on GetYourGuide. Read our review or the Secret Spot guide.

From Auckland in a day

Rotorua is about 2.5 hours’ drive from Auckland (roughly 230 km), so a day trip means a long day with most of it on the road. The Wai-O-Tapu & Polynesian Spa Day Tour collects you from central Auckland hotels, walks you round Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and then gives you about two hours at Polynesian Spa. The Māori Village & Polynesian Spa tour swaps Wai-O-Tapu for Whakarewarewa village and a cultural performance with a haka. Cheeky Kiwi Travel’s Rotorua Highlights tour, from $220 per person and rated 4.8 from 452 reviews, includes lunch and lets you choose Polynesian Spa or Secret Spot for the afternoon. The Rotorua hot springs from Auckland page compares every option.

Which should you choose?

For couples, privacy decides it. Secret Spot gives you a cedar tub to yourselves for 45 minutes, Wai Ariki keeps everyone under 16 out and sells a private bath for two, and Polynesian Spa has private rock pools that must be booked and attended by two adults aged 16 or over. Our romantic hot springs and private hot pools pages compare them.

For families, start at Polynesian Spa. The Family Pools have a lifeguard-supervised freshwater pool, a hydroslide and two mineral pools at 37 and 40°C, and the Deluxe Lake Spa also takes all ages. Under-8s must be actively supervised in the water by a carer aged 16 or over. Hell’s Gate takes children from 2.5 for the mud, Secret Spot from five, and Wai Ariki not at all. See family hot pools in Rotorua.

For a luxury afternoon, book the Wai Ariki Restorative Journey. Two hours, a robe, the fire and ice room and lake views make it the most complete spa session among the four venues.

On a budget, the lowest-priced soaks on this site are the Family Pools from $19, a Secret Spot tub from $26 and the Pavilion Pools from $31 per person. Free natural springs exist around Rotorua, with no facilities and real risks, so read free hot springs near Rotorua before you go. Our guide to the natural hot springs in Rotorua puts the spring-fed pools and the wild spots on one list.

For mud, Hell’s Gate is the only one of the four with a full mud bath. Wai Ariki’s mud lounge is a self-applied mask and body treatment inside the Restorative Journey, and Polynesian Spa has no mud at all. The longer list is on our best hot pools in Rotorua page, and our guide to Rotorua thermal spas and mineral pools compares the water at each spa, from Priest Spring to sulphur.

Plan your visit

Most of the pools stay open into the evening. Polynesian Spa runs from 9am to 11pm, with last pool entry at 10pm. Wai Ariki stays open until 11pm from November to April and 10:30pm from May to October. Secret Spot opens 9am to 10pm, and Hell’s Gate is open until 9pm. Our hot pools at night page has the last-entry times, the hot springs map shows where each venue sits, and where to stay covers hotels near the lakefront spas. For the weather month by month, see the best time to visit.

A few rules apply everywhere. In natural, untreated hot pools, keep your head above the water at all times and never jump, dive or duck under, because of the rare but almost always fatal risk of amoebic meningitis. Never step into unmarked geothermal water, which can be scalding, and stay out of fenced areas. If you are pregnant or have a heart condition or high blood pressure, get medical advice before you book. Wai Ariki will not accept pregnant guests for bathing, and the others ask you to check with a doctor first. Take off silver jewellery, which the minerals tarnish, wear proper swimwear (no cotton), and in the hotter pools soak for about fifteen minutes at a time with breaks.

Ready to soak by the lake? Check availability for the Deluxe Lake Spa.