Ocean Spa, on Napier's Marine Parade, is the city's premier heated pool and fitness complex — a place built around open-air, heated, chlorinated pools and spas with panoramic ocean views, where you can just as easily smash out an early swim as wind down in a spa pool at sunset.
The pool side covers every age and energy level: a toddler pool for the littlest visitors, a lap pool for serious swimmers, and a therapeutic pool with water fountains and pool jets for gentler movement and recovery. Two spacious outdoor spa pools are made for soaking as the sun rises or sets, and general admission also includes the sauna and steam room (18+ only). The changing rooms have been updated and include family changing rooms, and qualified lifeguards are on duty.
Alongside the water, the gym boasts a stunning Pacific Ocean view, qualified Personal Trainers and a timetable of more than 20 group fitness classes each week. Memberships come in Off-Peak, Premium and Supergold tiers and can include unlimited access to the gym, classes and the outdoor pool facilities — heated pool, lap pool, spa pools, sauna and steam room.
Complete any visit at The Bach Café, which pours superb coffee and serves a wide range of house-made menu and cabinet food, including gluten free, keto and vegan options, all with the same ocean outlook.
Locals can save with a Hawke's Bay Resident Card, while visitors can pick up three-day or seven-day pool-and-gym passes or use Ocean Spa as one of the venues on the Napier Discover Pass. The facility holds a Qualmark Silver Award and Poolsafe accreditation and is part of Napier City Council. It closes only on Christmas Day.
Set right on Napier's Marine Parade, Ocean Spa is the city's premier heated pool and fitness complex — and one of the few places where you can swim, soak, train and eat with the Pacific Ocean stretched out in front of you. The open-air, heated pools and spas enjoy panoramic sea views, and whether you arrive at 5.30am for laps or in the evening for a soak, the setting does a lot of the work for you.
The facility is part of Napier City Council and carries a Qualmark Silver Award and Poolsafe accreditation, alongside sustainable tourism commitments including the Tiaki Promise.
The pool complex is designed for every age and energy level. There's a toddler pool for the littlest visitors, a lap pool for swimmers who like to keep a schedule, and a therapeutic pool with water fountains and pool jets for gentler movement and recovery. Two spacious outdoor spa pools are arguably the highlight — a soak there as the sun rises or sets over the bay is hard to beat.
Everything is heated and chlorinated, qualified lifeguards are on duty, and the changing rooms have been updated, including family changing rooms. General admission covers all pools plus the sauna and steam room, which are reserved for visitors aged 18 and over. One thing to check before you go: the public sauna is currently closed for maintenance, though members have access to a member-exclusive five-person sauna — rules apply, so ask the reception team.
The gym looks out over the Pacific, and it's fully equipped for everything from strength work to cardio. Qualified Personal Trainers are on hand, and the timetable includes more than 20 group fitness classes each week, with a range broad enough that most people find something that suits. Memberships come in Off-Peak, Premium and Supergold options, and depending on the tier they can include unlimited access to the gym and classes as well as the heated pool, lap pool, spa pools, sauna and steam room.
A swim session usually ends with an appetite, and The Bach Café is positioned to catch it. It serves superb coffee along with a wide range of house-made menu and cabinet food, and there are gluten free, keto and vegan options, so mixed groups are easy to cater for. The café keeps shorter hours than the complex — 6.30am to 3pm Monday to Saturday and 7.30am to 3pm on Sundays — so it's a breakfast-and-lunch proposition rather than a dinner spot.
Ocean Spa opens 5.30am to 9.30pm Monday to Saturday and 7.30am to 9.30pm on Sundays and public holidays, with last entry at 9pm. It closes only on Christmas Day. A few timings matter: the lap pool closes earlier than the rest of the complex, at 8pm, and the spa pools shut at 8pm on Monday evenings for deep cleaning.
Locals can save with a Hawke's Bay Resident Card, valid for two years and usable by up to two adults and four school-aged children. Visitors have their own options, including three-day and seven-day pool-and-gym passes, and Ocean Spa is one of the five venues on the Napier Discover Pass, which also throws in a bonus visit of your choice. If you'd rather make a full day of it, the Cycle, Sip & Swim package pairs breakfast at The Bach Café with a Tākaro Trails e-bike ride on the Hawke's Bay Trails and a recovery swim — the bike team collects the e-bikes from Ocean Spa afterwards, so all you need to do is sit back and relax.
Whether you're a Napier local keeping up a training routine or a visitor looking for a genuinely restorative stop on Marine Parade, Ocean Spa packs a lot into one seaside site: pools to swim in, spas to linger in, a gym to work up a sweat, and a café to finish it all off.