Cape Kidnappers

About this place

Cape Kidnappers, known in Māori as Te Kauwae-a-Māui, is a headland at the southern end of Hawke Bay on the east coast of the North Island, at the end of an 8 km peninsula reaching into the Pacific, about 23 km in a straight line south-east of the city of Napier. The cliffs leading to the cape are made of layers of sandstone, conglomerate, mudstone, river gravel, pumice and silt. The cape is a breeding site for more than 6,500 pairs of Australasian gannets, the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. The sealed road ends at the village of Clifton, the starting point for most visitors. Pointed white and grey ridges of rock run out to the tip of the cape above deep blue water, and on their flat tops thousands of white, golden-headed birds sit on closely packed nests and dive into the sea to fish. On the way, a long beach runs beneath banded cliffs, and above the cape stand a small white lighthouse and wide farmland. The cape can be reached on a paid tour or by walking along the beach from Clifton, but the walk is possible only at low tide, so check the times. The gannets usually nest from about October to April.