Excursions in Tauranga

“The one and only place to go for all your trail running activities. I use this exclusively for planning my running routes and adventures around NZ and now beyond.”

“My friends and I had an absolute blast white water rafting experience. From the moment we got on the raft, it was non-stop fun, laughter, and pure adrenaline. We couldn’t stop smiling the entire time! A huge shoutout to our guide, Jasper, who made the whole experience unforgettable. He kept the energy high, made sure we felt safe, and turned every moment into something exciting. We had so much fun that we’re already talking about when we can do it again. If you’re thinking about trying white water rafting—DO IT. This was hands down one of the best adventures we’ve had! We’ll definitely be back for round two!”

“Thank you so much Mike. Phoenix and his friends thoroughly enjoyed his birthday treat. Would absolutely recommend the 1 hour tour. A real adrenaline treat for 13 year olds and mum too”

“Went out on a charter for my birthday with a few friends and we had a fantastic experience. We caught as much fish as we could take home in just an hour! Alita and Tom surprised us with a cute lil cake and the big lunch they provided was delicious, especially the freshly caught fish that was fried up! After catching as much fish as we wanted, we anchored close to shore off an island, snorkelled, and harvested a few sea urchins to try(with some prompting and direction from Tom). We were also lucky enough to momentarily see dolphins alongside the boat! Overall a fantastic day out on the water with a very friendly crew who were knowledgeable and easy going. Thankyou Tom and Alita!”

“An excellent trip. We had a great experience with a large pod of dolphins for about an hour. Staff were helpful a d friendly. Highly recommend.”

“We took our 18-month-old twins and they absolutely loved it. The interaction with the animals was fantastic, especially being able to feed them. It was a lovely walk around the park and very stroller-friendly, which made the visit easy and enjoyable. A great day out for families with young children — we’ll definitely be back.”

“We had the most amazing experience on this seafari, apparently we got super lucky because we ended up spitting 4 different dolphin pods. Didn’t get to swim with the dolphins since all the pods had juveniles, but still it was amazing to just enjoy them from the boat and learn all about them from the crew.”

“Re: Wai O Tapu Geothermal Wonderland Combo Tour A big thanks to Zealander Tours and our guide Stephen for providing such a great value-packed experience. We made the most of our time and covered a lot of ground during our cruise port visit.”

“Services are great! I use the school runs that Uzabus provide most days (After school obviously) and the drivers are very nice people, and the vibe is generally pretty chill, for the most part. I've also gotta tip my hat to the people who maintain the buses, because I've seen multiple buses in Uzabus' fleet that are very old, have over 1M km's on the odometer (I know of one with about 2.5M km on the odometer), or are one of a kind in the country. Good people, and probably very good mechanics.”

“Cathy has been incredible to deal with! What a fantastic travel agent to be working with! Everything has been arranged so easily for us. Can't thank her enough!”

“9th Dec 2023 Dean was brilliant... even had us laughing at his corny jokes. He gave us a very comprehensive personalised look at beautiful Tauranga. The kiwi farm visit was very informative. It was a highlight to meet the actual farmer. Highly recommend. GREAT TOUR.”

“Kidiwise is the best daycare around! Our friends in other areas are so jealous of what our son gets up too! It’s not about being the top looking with fake trees its about kids being kids, creating, building, exploring their own native bush weekly! Pony rides, hatching chickens and swimming in the spa! We can’t recommend kidiwise enough we love the imagination it lets our son have and the teachers who support him.”

“NAILED IT! I contacted Tāpoi Travel and 2 other travel agencies to plan my husband and my bucket list trip. My inquiry was the same with all 3 agencies I reached out to. I did not want a typical Australian vacation. We love adventure, and I am a big adrenaline addict. My husband and I are foodies and are very much into wine tasting, so I wanted to get to enjoy our Australian vineyards as we ate and tasted great wines across the country. When I met with Toni, she read my inquiry and wanted to help make the trip everything I imagined. (The other agents gave me a typical Australian vacation big things to see and do with no real adventure and did not include any of the vineyards I initially showed interest in.) To make it even more complicated, we wanted to spend Christmas and New Year's in Australia. Toni and Luke worked hard coming up with ideas and tweaking them as we made changes and additions until we had the perfect trip. We started in Perth and spent Christmas Day on Rottnest Island, riding electric bikes and snorkeling. (BEST DAY EVER) Since it was Christmas, there was not much for lunch on the Island, so they jumped in and added a lunch reservation at a local resort. From then to the end of our trip, we had so many unique experiences, and as we talked to other people, they were so surprised at what we were doing. Many Australians told us they had never experienced many items on our itinerary. We had wine tasting, an airplane ride over the pink lakes, traveled The Nullabar, walked a bridge over the tingle trees, went down into the caverns beautiful cave, swam with sea lions and dolphins, took a hot air balloon ride over Melbourne, spent the night at the Taronga Zoo, climbed the Sydney bridge, toured the Sydney Opera House, had a great food tour, visited many vineyards, and more things I can not even think of at the moment. Tāpoi arranged everything, from drivers and transportation to lodging and tour guides. Upon arrival, they took care of everything we needed and had little notes or instructions in our rooms. In addition, Toni checked in on us often to ensure there were no problems; if there was a problem, she and Luke were super quick to help fix it. (BTW, there was only one actual problem, but it was quickly resolved and was more of the driver being in the wrong area at the airport, not a real issue.) I can not say enough positive things about Tāpoi. They executed a fantastic trip of a lifetime, and we are looking forward to working with them on our next big adventure to New Zealand!”

“Great service and excellent kayaks.”

“Travelled with Phil and did the Everest Trek. Both my son and I loved it and made amazing memories. The trip was well organized and well planned. We did not have to do any planning other then getting ourselves into and out of Nepal. Everything else was sorted from the hotels, taxis and helicopters. Thanks for the amazing memories…..”

“We used Shore Trips and Tours to book 3 tours - 1 in Dunedin, 1 in Akaroa, and 1 in Tauranga (with an actual ST&T employee). We had no issues with an of our tours, instructions and contact info was clear and we had good communication with them in the months leading up to these tours. The tour that was actually through them was for Rotorua and Hobbiton in Tauranga and was great! Our guide (Mark?) Gave us some info as we went from place to place, made sure we stayed fed and on time, and got us back to our ship with time to spare! Will use to book tours again if we are in NZ again!”

“Lovely people. We have booked a Southland tour with them. Cant wait”

“Friendly service and loved the new coaches”

“Don is a one of a kind tour guide. He got along with all of us all like a house on fire from the get go and made us feel at home. I could not recommend him more!”

“Fantastic hosts, beautiful property”

“Gate Pa Pre School is amazing. Have been taking my children there for almost 2 years now and highly recommend to everyone i know with children. Amazing staff that really care for the kids.”

“They Price any journey to give 110% value. Well worth using.....”

“Amazing day out on the water and a perfect days fishing thanks to Rusty the trusty skipper who got us into the fish from the fish drop! The highlight, outside of nailing our Tarakihi limit, was the classic soundtrack to the day - tune after tune and fish after fish! Competitive pricing, great service, established memories with a good bunch of mates! Cheers Rusty and thank Blue Ocean Charters! Highly recommend!”