Bay of Islands, NZ: Lots of excursions at visitor center

[fstuff1]

Take the free shuttle to town from tender pier. (Note: I think Kayaking vendors are near the tender pier. Walk past the shuttle busses.)
It drops you off a block from the Visitor's Center.

They are a consolidator for all the excursion companies.
It seems to be the same price.

My Glow Worm/Waterfall tour was $125nz, same as the company advertising in front of the shuttle bus stop.

 

Glow Worm tour was eh. Guide was great and told about the interesting history of the cave.

but it was basically Firefly's without wings on the cave ceiling that didn't move.
And you can't take pics because the camera flashes disturb the worms, which made the tour eh. (This wasn't told to me at the Visitor's center. 😞 )

If you go there yourself, admission is $40nz.
The 10min waterfall stop was a nice picture location.

 

There's a 3hr boat tour of the island for $150nz at 12:30pm. There might be one at 9am. (My cruise ship tenders started at 7am but i didn't leave my cabin till 930am)
There's also a 4.5hr island boat tour AND snorkel for also $150nz. I can't swim so didn't inquire why they are both the same price.

 

There's also many other tours.

 

Visitor's center:

 

Glow Worm pricing if going there yourself:

 

Vendor in front of shuttle stop:

Edited October 17, 2023 by fstuff1

[babjlb]

Thank you!

 

[YoPhilly]

On 10/17/2023 at 11:26 AM, fstuff1 said:

Take the free shuttle to town from tender pier. (Note: I think Kayaking vendors are near the tender pier. Walk past the shuttle busses.)
It drops you off a block from the Visitor's Center.

They are a consolidator for all the excursion companies.
It seems to be the same price.

My Glow Worm/Waterfall tour was $125nz, same as the company advertising in front of the shuttle bus stop.

 

Glow Worm tour was eh. Guide was great and told about the interesting history of the cave.

but it was basically Firefly's without wings on the cave ceiling that didn't move.
And you can't take pics because the camera flashes disturb the worms, which made the tour eh. (This wasn't told to me at the Visitor's center. 😞 )

If you go there yourself, admission is $40nz.
The 10min waterfall stop was a nice picture location.

 

There's a 3hr boat tour of the island for $150nz at 12:30pm. There might be one at 9am. (My cruise ship tenders started at 7am but i didn't leave my cabin till 930am)
There's also a 4.5hr island boat tour AND snorkel for also $150nz. I can't swim so didn't inquire why they are both the same price.

 

There's also many other tours.

 

Visitor's center:

 

Glow Worm pricing if going there yourself:

 

Vendor in front of shuttle stop:

Is the visitor center in Russell?

[boeckli]

I believe it's in Paihia

https://www.fndc.govt.nz/Your-district/Visiting-the-Far-North/Visitor-Information-Centres/Bay-of-Islands-isite-Visitor-Information-Centre

[roscoe39]

the visitor centre in is the centre of Paihia opposite the wharf where the ferries cross to Russell

[Travrat]

On 2/3/2024 at 5:43 PM, boeckli said:

I believe it's in Paihia

https://www.fndc.govt.nz/Your-district/Visiting-the-Far-North/Visitor-Information-Centres/Bay-of-Islands-isite-Visitor-Information-Centre

Can you tell me how long the tender took to get to the tender Wharf?

[boeckli]

7 hours ago, Travrat said:

Can you tell me how long the tender took to get to the tender Wharf?

 

Sorry, I don't remember,  I was there five years ago.  But I'm heading back there in a couple of weeks 🙂

[LindaD22]

On 2/10/2024 at 3:26 AM, Travrat said:

Can you tell me how long the tender took to get to the tender Wharf?

We did this yesterday and the tender took about 15 minutes. The line to go back was so long! But the port staff told people they could wait at the nearby yacht club and they would come in to let us know when the line went down. We did this and got on the second to last tender, it took 15 minutes. 

[Travrat]

5 hours ago, LindaD22 said:

We did this yesterday and the tender took about 15 minutes. The line to go back was so long! But the port staff told people they could wait at the nearby yacht club and they would come in to let us know when the line went down. We did this and got on the second to last tender, it took 15 minutes. 

Thanks. What did you do there?

[LindaD22]

We did the RCI excursion, Bay of Island lunch cruise. It was fantastic! Captain Darryl was entertaining, we picked the grilled lamb for lunch and it was delicious, and we went to Russell Island, where we had about an hour of free time and had an ice cream cone and strolled around. Highly recommend. 

[Dinosuitgirl]

19 hours ago, LindaD22 said:

 we went to Russell Island

Russell isn't an island it's on a peninsula... It was the first capital of New Zealand when the British Settlers first colonized NZ. The Duke of Marlborough claims to be one of the oldest pub/inns in NZ (but that's contentious) it's just a sleepy little chocolate box town now. From Flagstaff hill you look back at Paihia and Waitangi which is where the treaty between the English and Maori was signed. 

[Cleocruiser]

I agree that the lines are crazy long in Pahia. Both lines for the tender and the bus into town will very long and very hot with no sun protection. We just got back and did the RCCL Waka canoe tour. It was fun and interesting, and you get to see a traditional Waka greeting. You don't have to row the whole time, they have motors, if needed. One thing that Royal did not tell us was that you really need waterproof shoes. No one and a large group had them and we had to walk on hard shells to get into the canoe. The tour company told us to just get our shoes wet because it will hurt your feet, but we wanted to walk around Pahia after the tour. I ended up taking my shoes with me on the canoe and only having to walk a few steps barefoot. The tour operator has begged Royal to add water shoes to their description, but they haven't yet.