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In New Zealand, are swimming costumes (or towels) required, optional, or forbidden in hot springs?

I'm not planning on going there myself, but would like to be able to tell Japanese people what to expect. If some hot springs tend to cater more towards Japanese tourists than other places, then I'd be especially interested in those springs' policies.

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I assume you're asking so you can avoid seeing nekkid New Zealanders' bottoms? – hippietrail Aug 20 '12 at 8:14
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Japanese-themed and Japanese-operated Maruia Springs on the spine of the South Island has a Japanese-style public bathhouse where swimwear is optional:

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Pretty much everywhere else, including the outdoor area at Maruia itself, swimwear is required.

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these pools are lovely and are less well known and therefore not jammed packed like Hanmer springs – Stuart Aug 21 '12 at 21:33
...although I suspect both the hordes of sandflies and the location in the middle of absolutely nowhere, even by NZ standards, has quite a bit to do with that as well. – jpatokal Aug 22 '12 at 1:22
Middle of nowhere is part of it, though if you know where you're going there are some great sites around there. There are some great hikes in the area and some OK fishing. Sand flies are only really an issue at dusk and dawn I find unless it's very damp. – Stuart Aug 22 '12 at 16:11
up vote 6 down vote

Almost without fail, swimming costumes are required. As are towels, so as not to drip everywhere.

There are however, sometimes private pools you can reserve (indoors) - for example, at Hanmer Springs, and I suspect a lot of the time, swimming costumes may not be used there, although I think officially they'd be required.

However, there are a few exceptions - The Secret Spot (Waiotapu stream) has optional nudity, and the Rotorua Nudist group maintains the hot pool at the top of Akatarewa Stream. However these are generally not commercial hot pools.

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