Beautiful Lake Rotorua is steeped in myths and history. Lake Rotorua is a relatively shallow lake that was formed approximately 140 000 years ago. Hot springs provide direct geothermal inputs along the southern shore. The lake covers an area of 7878 ha in total and the mean depth is 11 m.

Lake Rotorua is the North Island's second largest lake (Lake Taupo is the largest).

The picturesque city of Rotorua, voted New Zealand's most beautiful city in 1999, 2000 and 2002, is built on its southern shores. The small town of Ngongotaha is situated at the western edge of the lake. Rotorua, with all its geo-thermal activity and action attractions, is one of New Zealand's most popular tourist destinations.

A visit to Rotorua offers a unique insight into Maori traditions, past ways of life and the renaissance of the Maori culture as it exists today in New Zealand. Hard to miss, Rotorua's geo-thermal activity surrounds the city with a distinct sulphuric smell and its various attractions provide easy access to bubbling mud and gushing geysers amidst stunning lake and forest landscapes.

Rotorua's reputation as a spa destination goes back more than 160 years when the Pink and White Terraces, considered being the eight natural wonder of the world, still existed. Visitors travelled from all over to see the immense silica formations and bathe in the therapeutic waters within them. The Terraces were destroyed in 1886 during the eruption of Mt Tarawera, but Rotorua still is a haven for recreational and medicinal bathing.