I really enjoyed this full day tour discovering the environment and culture of the people of Rotorua. Clinton was my guide and he had a wealth of knowledge. Highly recommend the full day tour as it covers so many different places.

Had the most amazing day with the fabulous Trent ! On my own for the tour I met the best group of people. The tour itself was so well planned and I witnessed some of the most incredible sights I’ve ever seen . This is a must do adventure so worth the money . Jodi , Australia ❤️

We really enjoyed Waimangu (views were amazing, plus our tour guide Blake used to work there so he had lots of great insider info) and Te Puia (amazing geyser, and loved learning more about Māori culture). Waiotapu was a bit more of a meh experience. While there were some cool sights like the bright green lake, the steam obscured most views and it was a bit too cold to be comfortable outside without the sun for that long. I won’t spoil anything about Lady Knox Geyser, but I’ll just say that after seeing Pohutu Geyser in Te Puia, you won’t miss skipping out on Lady Knox. Since all three places involve walking tours, consider saving your energy and pass on Waiotapu. But overall 4/5 stars; still a fun Rotorua day.

We really enjoyed our day taking pictures as many as we could. Our tour guide Trent was super knowledgable. Very friendly. Never forget this day. Nothing was perfect without him.

I took this half day tour because I had limited time. It turned out to be a very informative and pleasant tour. Our guide, Trent, is of Māori heritage and proved to be extremely knowledgeable about Rotorua and Māori /New Zealand culture & history. He was also punctual, patient, and had a modern minibus (with good air conditioning, which proved valuable on the warm day). We visited principally the Te Puia, which combines a Māori cultural institute with geothermal geysers and a Kiwi conservation center and a gift shop. We also visited the grounds of the Tudor-style Rotorua Museum and the Blue and Green Lakes. It was a perfect outing for me , and I enjoyed lots of interesting conversations with Trent. I am sure that the full day tour would be even better and I highly recommend this company.

We did the morning thermal parks and just loved! Well organized, great fun, Lisa is nice. The sequence of the tour was just perfect! Nothing to be rushed and got to see the 2 main thermal parks

We booked Eco-Thermal Full Day Tour which included Geothermal hot springs and volcanic features at Wai-O-Tapu, Lady Knox Geyser Eruption and Waimangu. The landscapes at Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu are breathtaking with informative narration provided by our Tour Guide, Linda. Linda is very knowledgeable, witty and friendly. It was a super fun tour to be guided by Linda who explained details clearly and provided lots of interesting information about Rotorua, geological history about the sites, plus the floras and faunas along trip. Unfortunately, our second half of the tour to Te Puia Maori Cultural Village and geothermal activity was cancelled due to shortage of staff. We were informed by Elite Adventures a day prior to the tour. The company has good initiative to replace the program with Whakarewarewa Māori Cultural Village. Personally, the Whakarewarewa Māori Cultural Village was underwhelming to me as the guided tour was merely based on oral narration which we didn’t get to see any cultural performance at all. We were also brought to Whakarewarewa Redwoods Forest to have a glimpse of the Redwood Pine Trees, plus driving along two lakes at Rotorua. Despite we were disappointed with the cancellation of Te Puia Māori Culture Village, we were having good time visiting to the Geothermal Park at Wai-O-Tapu and Waimangu. We are still very happy with the service provided by Elite Adventure for their good initiative to replace the program with some alternatives even though the cancellation of the tour at Te Puia is beyond their control. They even initiated partial refund to us due the cancellation of Te Puia Tour. Special thanks to Linda who made our tour in Rotorua exceptionally memorable and fun!

I initially hesitated about spending a full day out in the field and did not regret one minute of it! Our group was small and intimate, allowing us to have many deep conversations ranging from the land to the peoples. I was grateful for our tour guide's in depth knowledge, professionalism, and hospitality.

We were booked on the Elite EcoThermal Morning tour with scheduled stops at 2 thermal parks on March 21 2023. We did not go to the thermal mud pools nor see Lady Knox Geyser erupt. We were taken directly to Waimangu Volcanic Valley where we had a wonderfully extensive explained bus ride down to the lake. We took the Rotomahana Cruise out onto the lake to get closer looks at Mt. Tarewara, Starhill Crater and the Waimangu Geyser which erupted every 8-11 minutes that day:) After taking the bus back up to the top, we started the 1hr walking tour back down the valley via well groomed paths. We got in much closer to various volcanic pools and our guide was very thorough. Thankfully we returned back to the visitor Centre via bus;)

This tour was fantastic!! Brian was amazing and so knowledgeable about the area and the geology of Rotorua. I definitely learnt a lot!

My wife and I went on this tour and visited Wai-o-tapu (hot springs & Lady Know geyser) ; Waimangu Volcanic Valley; Maori Settlement Sites (Rotowhio Marae & Pohutu geyser) and Government Gardens.

Our guide, Brian, was so knowledgeable about not only the geology, but also the cultural aspects, the ecosystems, and how everything fit together. The thermal pools and the geyser were beautiful. We then spent time at Tu Puia, watching the very skilled craftsmen and learning more about Maori culture. Brian, with his Maori heritage, obviously loves and respects the culture, as well as the natural world. It was a fun, awe inspiring day.

This was a great tour of the thermals. The guide Clive was very informative and obliging. Thanks for your help. We would strongly recommend this tour.

We just got back from a full day tour with Trent. He took us out on a fun and informative tour of Wai-o-Tapu, Te Puia, as well as some other spots around Rotorua. If you’re in Rotorua, you can’t miss going to see the geothermal features. Boiling mud, geysers, strange colored steaming, bubbling streams, lakes, and craters…. Having someone who knows what you’re looking at makes it all significantly better. Our afternoon visit to Te Puia was equally amazing. More geothermal fun was the least of it. Getting a small taste of some Maori culture, and seeing their master carvers work were fascinating. Having it explained to you by a Maori was even better. He not only had his rote bits about each stop down, but was able to answer a wide range of questions about those areas, Rotorua in general, and New Zealand history and culture. He was a fun and boisterous guide, our best guided tour we had in New Zealand.

Booked the cultural tour through our travel agent and it ended up just being my husband and I. It was our honeymoon so we welcomed the private tour. From the get go Trent was welcoming and personable; not your regular tour guide. He was knowledgeable about more than just the tour. It was more like a friend showing you around and telling you the history. I highly highly recommend.