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The ground above Honeycomb Hill Cave (Sentinel-2)

New Zealand New Zealand Cave

Honeycomb Hill Cave

12 °C inside, all year.

See the descentHow to visit

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data), CC BY 4.0, with relief shading from Copernicus WorldDEM-30

The descent

The entrance, at 280 m.

The real relief above Honeycomb Hill Cave, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.

depth not publishedEntrance662 m1.0 kmvertical × 5.5depth not publishedEntrance662 m1.0 kmvertical × 11.9

The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.

280m

Entrance altitude

from the 30 m relief model

12°C

Inside, all year

the yearly average outside, at the entrance

175m

Rock above

the highest point within 1.5 km

Inside and outside

12 °C inside, all year.

Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 12 °C here, in January and in August.

outside, at the entrance (280 m)inside
  1. 16°14°Jan
  2. 17°14°Feb
  3. 16°14°Mar
  4. 15°13°Apr
  5. 13°11°May
  6. 12°10°Jun
  7. 11°9°Jul
  8. 11°9°Aug
  9. 11°9°Sep
  10. 12°10°Oct
  11. 13°11°Nov
  12. 15°13°Dec
Inside: 12 °C all year

Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.

Cave in New Zealand

Honeycomb Hill Cave is a cave in New Zealand. The entrance is at 280 m. It lies within Kahurangi National Park.

Read more on Wikipedia

Getting there.

  • Wild cave: only with caving equipmentNo paths or lights inside. Go only with a caving club or a qualified guide.
  • Oparara Arch Lookoutnearest viewpoint · 2.3 km from the entrance
  • Westport Airport (WSZ)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 85 km in a straight lineCar hire at NSN airport (Nelson)Discover Cars · sponsored link

Plan the visit

Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.

Car hire at NSN airport (Nelson)Discover CarsSee prices 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

From above.

The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.

The ground above Honeycomb Hill Cave (Sentinel-2) N 1.5 km

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Around the entrance.

  • 2other cave entrances within 3 kmCrazy Paving Cave, Box Canyon Cave
  • 2viewpoints within 3 kmMirror Tarn lookout, Oparara Arch Lookout
  • 2marked hiking routes within 3 kmŌpārara Arch, Moria Gate and Mirror Tarn Loop
  • 1car parks within 2 km
  • 1information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
  • 2campsites within 8 kmKōhaihai Campsite, Scotts Beach Campsite
  • springs within 2 km
  • sinkholes within 3 km
  • caving clubs and spots within 15 km
  • climbing crags within 3 km
  • named waterfalls within 4 km
  • bus stops within 2 km
  • hotels and guesthouses within 8 km
  • restaurants and cafés within 3 km

Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

In our other atlases

What else is around Honeycomb Hill Cave.

The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.

Peakyas2 mountains within 10 km
Avery488 m · 5.2 kmBald Knob1,280 m · 8.7 km
Islandyason an island
South Island150,437 km²

Figures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.

Month by month

The weather outside, at the entrance.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Afternoon161716151312111111121315
Afternoon161716151312111111121315
Night141414131110999101113
Rain (mm)11284104133154158140132139151116150
Rainy days131012141717161717181516
Sun hours/day9.18.47.25.54.33.54.15.26.37.28.28.3
AfternoonAfternoonNightRain (mm)Sun hours/day
Jan1616141129.1
Feb171714848.4
Mar1616141047.2
Apr1515131335.5
May1313111544.3
Jun1212101583.5
Jul111191404.1
Aug111191325.2
Sep111191396.3
Oct1212101517.2
Nov1313111168.2
Dec1515131508.3

Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (280 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.

Recent years

Wet years, dry years.

Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
202063%139%122%121%117%71%105%113%183%165%211%171%
2021114%55%192%121%143%133%150%193%142%157%133%157%
202233%528%52%87%195%173%179%261%110%126%178%54%
202384%111%180%166%172%95%134%121%144%100%95%179%
2024129%126%99%94%58%113%111%204%166%185%195%123%
202563%92%72%203%171%184%201%92%174%247%138%134%

130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month

Caves nearby.

Honeycomb Hill Cave

New Zealand

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 280 mEntrance altitude
  • 12 °CInside, all year

Nettlebed Cave

New Zealand · 45 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 720 mEntrance altitude
  • 9 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Bulmer Cavern

New Zealand · 56 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 1,450 mEntrance altitude
  • 4 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Harwoods Hole

New Zealand · 60 km

  • —Depth
  • —Galleries
  • 748 mEntrance altitude
  • 9 °CInside, all year

See the guide

Where these figures come from

Name, type, published depth and length, visitorsWikidata (Q5893773) · CC0
The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D modelCopernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA
ClimateNASA POWER, 1991–2020
Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearbyCoastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas

Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Visit mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Visit islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Visit riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit
cavesCavernyasEvery cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.You are here
dark skiesDarkskyasWhere the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Coming soonVisit
viewpointsViewyasEvery viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.Coming soonVisit
birdwatchingBirdyasEvery bird sanctuary and wetland with the species recorded month by month: who is resident, who comes for the summer, who only passes through.Coming soonVisit
forestsForestyaEvery forest with its land-cover rings, what grows and lives in it, and the best months to walk it.Coming soonVisit