Google Maps getting Bob's Cove tourists lost

by Kim Bowden - Aug 13, 2024

Tourists are being directed to a private no exit road in their quest to find scenic hotspot Bob's Cove and it is frustrating locals.

Residents of Glen Tui Heights, a subdivision 15 minute's drive from Queenstown, are increasingly finding people lost on their otherwise quiet back road.

The intended destination, the picturesque Lake Wakatipu inlet accessed via a Department of Conservation track that starts at a car park a few minutes further down the Glenorchy-Queenstown road.

Will a sign stop tourists from looking for Bob's Cove in the wrong place?

The problem, the residents reckon, has gotten worse since the attraction featured on a morning television show in the United States.

Now, some days they are seeing more visitors cars than locals.

Adding to the problem, throw 'Bob's Cove' into Google Maps and the resulting map includes a pin dropped in the middle of the bay.

To motorists, the private road in Glen Tui Heights can appear to be the closest road access to their destination.

"Residents have their driveways turned round in, gates and fences driven into and on one occasion I found a car 'parked' outside my front door with the occupants walking away to find the cove," one resident tells Crux.

"With the social and general media reception Bob's Cove receives there are a lot of 'lost' tourists. The residents try and politely point people in the right direction but, as you can imagine with this volume of traffic, the problem is becoming quite tiresome."

Several people have tried to report the issue to Google - with limited success, however.

"Each time I have tried, I receive a message saying my request to modify the directions has been rejected. This has happened multiple times to me and others.

"Google Community help suggested my bullet points may seem like a 'bot', so I wrote it as more of a story and still got rejected.

"The best result is that there's now a note saying 'this route has restricted usage or private roads', but This does not really help when it doesn't show the correct DOC carpark location or any alternative."

However, they are pragmatic about the issue, describing it as, "just an annoying little problem in this slice of paradise".