Curio Bay is a holiday community and small rocky bay on the Pacific coast on the southwestern side of the Catlins. It is one of the highlights of a trip through the region, combining a 180-million-year-old petrified forest in Curio Bay, the stunning Porpoise Bay Beach, where you can swim with dolphins, and fabulous cliff-top views from South Head. There is also a chance of spotting hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) in Curio Bay and a remnant coastal rainforest with a walking track. There is also a large commercial campground between Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay.
The access to Curio Bay is on Niagara Waikawa Road, which becomes Waikawa Curio Bay Road (12.1 km). At the end of the Chaslands Highway section of the Southern Scenic Route, turn south towards Niagara and Waikawa. Niagara is a joke name referring to a modest waterfall on the Waikawa River. There is also a good cafe south of the waterfall.
Continuing south from Niagara, the road follows the edge of Waikawa Harbour (the tidal estuary of the river) and then reaches the small township of Waikawa. When Europeans arrived for sealing and whaling, there was a small Māori community. However, Waikawa quickly became a major port for shipping timber from the Catlins to Dunedin. The first European settlers set up sawmills as early as the late 1830s, but the town’s time in the sun proved short. Fortrose on Toetoes Harbour to the west turned out to be a better port, and by the early 1900s, the Catlins Railway Line to the northeast and the Tokanui Brach Line to the northwest were superseding the coastal trade. You can explore the area's history in the local museum and information centre, which are housed in the old schoolhouse and the attractive church building.
Continuing south from Waikawa, the road runs west of Porpoise Bay, leaving the harbour behind. There is no direct access to most of the beautiful 5 km crescent-shaped beach, part of which is lined with houses and cribs of Curio Bay hamlet. The bay's south end is confusing for a first-time visitor, with a confusion of signs and facilities.
In short, the fossils, a rare experience worldwide, are at the west end of Curio Bay on the tidal rock platform. They are accessed through a staircase with viewing platforms down the side of the cliff, about 100 metres west of the campground reception and cafe. Petrified logs can be easily picked out. The many small mound-shaped rock formations are less immediately apparent, where the yellow-coloured centres could be tree stumps or branches of the trees. Be there at low tide. Immediately opposite the access path to the fossils, you will also see the access to the short coastal rainforest walk.
Porpoise Bay, the east end of Curio Bay and the clifftop views from South Head are accessed via the campground access road on your left, just before the campground reception and cafe. You can park above the west side of the Curio Bay rock platform, which has easy access to the rocks. Note that this is heavily populated by seabirds that noisily resist intrusions.
Continuing on the access road will get you to a car park at the south end of Porpoise Bay. From there, it is a short walk down to the beach, where you can see Hector dolphins in the surf. This is the most consistent opportunity for swimming with dolphins in NZ at a beach.
The access road then winds its way to the top of South Head. On the way is a large Māori pou, part of the Southland / Murihiku Matariki wayfinding project. The pou represents the star Waitā that Ngāi Tahu associates with salt water, seafood and sea creatures. At the tip of South Head is a large parking area with spectacular views from the clifftops. Take care, as there is no protection from the edge.
Curio Bay is 69 km from Owaka at the northeast end of the Catlins, and it takes 70 minutes to drive. It is 83 km and a similar drive time from Invercargill. Slope Point is a 15-minute drive to the west, Waipapa Point is 27 minutes, and it's a 40 to 50-minute drive east to Tautuku Bay and Papatowai on the Southern Scenic Route.
