West Coast
The West Coast is a region of the western South Island of New Zealand that's long and relatively narrow, squeezed between the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea.| Tap on a place to explore it |
Photo: Alan Liefting, Public domain.
Essential Destinations
Top destinations include Westport and Greymouth.
Westport
Westport is the main town of the Buller District, in the northern part of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Westport has spectacular beaches at its back door, and the mighty Buller River, the largest river by volume in NZ, runs right beside the town.
Greymouth
Photo: AlasdairW, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Greymouth is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is 14,600, which accounts for 42% of the West Coast's inhabitants.
Westland Tai Poutini National Park
Westland Tai Poutini National Park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as Te Wahipounamu in South West New Zealand. The national park lies on the West Coast of the South Island in the Southern Alps, adjacent to Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park and to the north of Mount Aspiring National Park.
Destinations to Discover
Explore places such as Mount Aspiring National Park and Paparoa National Park.
Mount Aspiring National Park
Mount Aspiring National Park is a national park that lies in the Southern Alps of New Zealand's South Island, in the headwaters of Lake Wanaka. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of South West New Zealand, or Te Wahipounamu, which includes Fiordland National Park, Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park and Westland Tai Poutini National Park.
Paparoa National Park
Photo: Tournasol7, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Paparoa National Park is on the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand. The park was established in 1987 and encompasses 430 km2. The park ranges from or near the coastline to the peaks of the Paparoa Range.
Fox Glacier
Photo: Steve & Jem Copley, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Fox Glacier village is in "Glacier Country" on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Tucked discreetly into the rainforest-clad foothills of the Southern Alps, it has a stunning outlook across surrounding farms and offers breathtaking views of New Zealand’s two highest peaks, Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman.
Hokitika
Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Hokitika, gateway to the South Westland World Heritage National Park, is on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.
Franz Josef
Photo: Tiimta, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Franz Josef is a village and glacial area at the foot of the western slopes of Mount Cook, in the middle of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Haast
Photo: Thilver, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Haast is a small collection of communities, Haast Junction, Haast township and Haast Beach, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park, part of the UNESCO's Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area.
Punakaiki
Photo: Tiimta, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Punakaiki is on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island and has the Department of Conservation Centre for the surrounding Paparoa National Park. It has great coastal scenery and is best known for the Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes.
Charleston
Photo: Greg Schechter, CC BY 2.0.
Charleston is the first small town south of Westport on State Highway 6, in the northern part of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Located in the Buller District, it is a significant historical gold mining town once boasting more than 5,000 residents and more than 30 hotels and shops.
Reefton
Reefton is a small inland town beside the Inangahua River in the West Coast region of New Zealand. With a population of 1,000, it is the 4th biggest town on the West Coast.
Karamea
Karamea is a small town near the northern end of the West Coast region of the South Island of New Zealand. Apart from a narrow coastal strip, the town of Karamea and its local area are completely surrounded to the south, east and north by Kahurangi National Park.
Granity
Granity is the first small town north of Westport on State Highway 67, in the northern part of the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
Ross
Photo: Phillip Capper, CC BY 2.0.
Ross is a small town located in the Westland District on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, 27 kilometres south-west of Hokitika and 46 kilometres north-east of Hari Hari by road.
Whataroa
Photo: Paora, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Whataroa is in the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. It lies at the foot of the western slopes of the Southern Alps, on a glacial-formed landscape.
West Coast
- Type: region of New Zealand with 34,800 residents
- Description: region of New Zealand’s South Island
- Also known as: “Te Tai Poutini”, “West Coast Region”, and “West Coast, New Zealand”
- Neighbors: Canterbury, Otago, and Southland
- Location: South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
- View on OpenStreetMap
This page is based on GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.
Satellite Map
Discover West Coast from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
In Other Languages
From Arabic to Western Armenian—“West Coast” goes by many names.
- Arabic: “إقليم الساحل الغربي”
- Aragonese: “Rechión de West Coast”
- Basque: “West Coast eskualdea”
- Bengali: “ওয়েস্ট কোস্ট অঞ্চল”
- Bulgarian: “Уест Коуст”
- Catalan: “West Coast”
- Cebuano: “West Coast, Nueva Zelanda”
- Cebuano: “West Coast”
- Chinese: “West Coast Tōa-khu”
- Chinese: “西岸大区”
- Czech: “Západní pobřeží”
- Danish: “West Coast Region”
- Dutch: “West Coast”
- Esperanto: “okcidentmarborda regiono”
- Esperanto: “Okcidentmarborda Regiono”
- Esperanto: “Te Tai Poutini”
- Esperanto: “West Coast”
- Estonian: “West Coasti piirkond”
- Finnish: “West Coast”
- French: “Te Tai Poutini”
- French: “West Coast”
- Georgian: “უესტ-კოსტის რეგიონი”
- German: “NZ-WTC”
- German: “Te Tai Poutini”
- German: “West Coast”
- Greek: “Δυτική Ακτή”
- Gujarati: “પશ્ચિમ કોસ્ટ પ્રદેશ”
- Hebrew: “החוף המערבי”
- Hindi: “वेस्ट कोस्ट क्षेत्र”
- Hungarian: “Nyugati part régió”
- Hungarian: “West Coast régió”
- Indonesian: “West Coast, Selandia Baru”
- Indonesian: “West Coast”
- Italian: “Te Tai Poutini”
- Italian: “West Coast”
- Japanese: “ウェスト・コースト地方”
- Kannada: “ಪಶ್ಚಿಮ ಕರಾವಳಿ ಪ್ರದೇಶ”
- Korean: “웨스트코스트 지방”
- Latvian: “Vestkosta”
- Latvian: “Vestkostas reģions”
- Lithuanian: “Vakarinės pakrantės regionas”
- Lithuanian: “Vakarų Pakrantės regionas”
- Macedonian: “Западно Крајбрежје”
- Malay: “Wilayah Pantai Barat”
- Maori: “Te Tai-poutini”
- Marathi: “पश्चिम कोस्ट प्रदेश”
- Min Nan Chinese: “West Coast Tōa-khu”
- Moroccan Arabic: “جيهة الساحل لغربي”
- Norwegian Bokmål: “West Coast”
- Norwegian Nynorsk: “West Coast på New Zealand”
- Norwegian: “West Coast”
- Persian: “وست کوست، نیوزیلند”
- Polish: “West Coast”
- Portuguese: “Costa Oeste”
- Portuguese: “Te Tai Poutini”
- Portuguese: “West Coast”
- Russian: “Уэст-Кост”
- Scottish Gaelic: “West Coast Region”
- Serbo-Croatian: “West Coast”
- Sinhala: “වෙස්ට් කෝස්ට් කලාපය, නවසීලන්තය”
- Sinhala: “වෙස්ට් කෝස්ට් කලාපය”
- Slovenian: “NZ-WTC”
- Slovenian: “West Coast”
- Spanish: “Región de West Coast”
- Spanish: “Te Tai Poutini”
- Spanish: “West Coast”
- Swedish: “West Coast, Nya Zeeland”
- Swedish: “West Coast”
- Tamil: “மேற்கு கோஸ்ட் பகுதி”
- Telugu: “పశ్చిమ తీర ప్రాంతం”
- Thai: “เวส คอส”
- Turkish: “Batı Sahili Bölgesi”
- Turkish: “West Coast”
- Ukrainian: “Вест-Кост”
- Ukrainian: “Уест-Кост”
- Urdu: “مغربی ساحل، نیوزی لینڈ”
- Urdu: “ویسٹ کوسٹ ریجن”
- Urdu: “ویسٹ کوسٹ، نیوزی لینڈ”
- Vietnamese: “Khu vực West Coast”
- Western Armenian: “Արեւմտեան շրջան”
- “Te Tai Poutini”
South Island: Must-Visit Destinations
Delve into Canterbury, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Southern Alps.
Explore These Curated Destinations
Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “West Coast”. Photo: Wikimedia, CC0.