Awaroa is the largest tidal inlet on the Coast Track and one of the most beautiful stops in the park — a wide, shallow basin of pale sand that drains and fills twice a day, ringed by bush-covered hills. The Awaroa hut sits at the head of the inlet, and the famous crossing at low tide takes you across what is effectively a kilometre of beach.
The crossing window is narrow — usually around two hours either side of low water — and getting the tide wrong means a long wait or an unpleasant wade. Most walkers time their itineraries around this single point. There is a small lodge and an airstrip at the southern shore, and water taxis from Kaiteriteri use Awaroa as a regular pick-up point.