Pretty Lake Tarawera offers swimming, fishing, cruises and walks. Clearwater Cruises runs scenic cruises and self-drive boat options, while Lake Tarawera Water Taxi & Eco Tours offers boat trips and water taxi transfers (must be prebooked) to Hot Water Beach and for the Tarawera Trail (15km, five to six hours). The Landing Café offers fresh fruit ice creams and lake views. There's a privately run campsite at Hot Water Beach (boat access only; prebooking required), and a DOC-managed site at Tarawera Outlet.
The Blue Lake Top 10 Holiday Park offers camping next to the Blue Lake (good for swimming and kayaking), 6km before you get to Lake Tarawera, coming from Rotorua; well run, it has spotless facilities and a handy range of cabins.
Tarawera means ‘Burnt Spear’, named by a visiting hunter who left his bird spears in a hut and on returning the following season found both the spears and hut had been burnt.
