Abel Tasman AquaTaxi
Abel Tasman AquaTaxi
4.7
About
Experience the breath-taking beauty of the Abel Tasman National Park from the comfort of our purpose-built, eco-friendly water taxis. Whether you're looking for a short walk, a scenic day out, or a multi-day hiking adventure we have an option to suit. AquaTaxi gets you closer to those out-of-the-way spots along the Abel Tasman coastline and to the Park's incredible golden-sand beaches. Let the friendly team at AquaTaxi help you create an itinerary best suited to your needs, time and budget.
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingWhat is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Top ways to experience nearby attractions
Are you currently on your trip?
Help us find experiences available for you.
The area
Address
Reach out directly
Best nearby
We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
Restaurants
10 within 5 kms
Attractions
10 within 10 kms
Contribute
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.7
421 reviews
Excellent
326
Very good
66
Average
18
Poor
4
Terrible
7
Emile Sabih
10 contributions
Mar 2025 • Couples
Me and my partner used Abel Tasman Aqua Taxis from Marahau to Torrent bay and did the walk up to Bark bay and then aqua taxi back to Marahau. Not really to sure why a few people have given mixed reviews on this, before booking it’s pretty clear to see how long the various walks will take and there’s a clear schedule/timetable on when the Aqua taxis will drop you off/pick you up. Yes some people at the back might get a light spray of water but what do you expect you’re on a boat on the sea… (Vaughn kindly gave some towels to the people who got a little bit wet at the back) so no complaints here at all, quite the opposite. Me and my partner completed our walk quicker than expected and they were extremely accommodating allowing us to go on an earlier taxi from bark bay back to Marahau. We were lucky enough to go with Vaughn on the way back to Marahau in which we amazingly saw 4 adolescent Orcas snd some seals!! He went above and beyond on the journey back to be as informative and tell us as much about Abel Tasman as he could and even saw us walking down to the Park Cafe later on in the evening and kindly offered us a lift down, what a bloke. He’s clearly a passionate man who loves his job and is very knowledgable about the area as a whole and was a pleasure to have him as our skipper. Thanks for a great trip!
Written 19 March 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paul
Tokyo, Japan175 contributions
Jan 2025 • Family
We enjoyed the services of Abel Tasman AquaTaxi on our way to start the Abel Tasman Walk. We were just looking for transport, and were surprised to enjoy a tour on our way up the coast, skippered by the amusing and informative Glenn. Such a fun time - and in such beautiful surroundings!
Written 30 January 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Louise C
13 contributions
Oct 2024 • Solo
A really great service that means no one had to over do it walking if they don’t wish - also makes the park so much more accessible. Glenn and the girl with Dutch heritage (cannot remember her name apologies!) were so lovely and great hosts
Written 28 October 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
June C
4 contributions
Oct 2022
We sought advice on best day trip to take given our time available & the staff offered recommendation which was perfect for our needs. Loved the quirky ride In the boat to the launch! Our sail out was smooth and Skipper made everyone at ease with his manner & easy banter. After completing our walk, we waited for pick up and to our alarm discovered no hire car keys in our backpack. Deducing they had fallen out somewhere along the track, we returned to Marahau quietly flummoxed about how to deal with the situation . Abel Tasman Aqua Taxi crew were outstanding in assisting us. From offering us a phone when ours was flat, to contacting other water taxi service providers, they were able to track down the keys which had been handed in further up the coast, arranged a pick up (shout out to the Abel Dominator crew for assisting) and had the keys back in our hands within an hour and a half. The ferry trips were great, but kindness, empathy shown and generosity of the Abel Tasman Aqua taxi team in helping us was exceptional service.
Written 7 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kevin19541964
Christchurch, New Zealand22 contributions
Oct 2022
Straightforward online booking, extremely efficient, friendly service with make Abel Tasman Aqua Taxi a winner. We took a taxi from Marahau to Torrent Bay and were picked up from Bark Bay, greeted by name (a nice touch) and exactly on time, later in the day. The drivers are knowledgeable and friendly and the boats are superbly maintained and comfortable with a reassuring attention to safety.
Abel Tasman Aqua Taxis have our unconditional recommendation
Abel Tasman Aqua Taxis have our unconditional recommendation
Written 23 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
152laurelh
1 contribution
Feb 2020
Had a roundtrip between Marahau and Anchorage on Saturday, our morning skipper (an older gentleman), started off the trip a bit surly when some of the passengers didn't respond to his announcement that we were headed to Split Apple Rock and made a comment that we "must be from Auckland." When we arrived in Anchorage, a youngish female tourist asked if she and her partner could book a ride back to Marahau. He told them they could and then said, "but you'll need to leave your boyfriend behind, I'm looking for my 3rd wife." Nice way to make your customers feel safe. The evening skipper was very polite and caring for a woman that we picked up from the Aquapackers due to seasickness. Maybe the younger generation of skippers needs to give the older dudes some culture and courtesy training.
Written 16 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rossydos
Napier, New Zealand44 contributions
Dec 2022
We used this service over the Xmas period for different days of our trips. We arrived at the incorrect venue and late which meant we missed the water taxi for the first part of our hikoi from Totaranui. The guys were so accommodating, and organised for us to be dropped off at Anchorage to hop on the awaiting taxi to our desitnation.
We arrived earlier than we thought from Awaroa to Anchorage and they accommodated us (group of 4) onto 2 taxis. They did this with minimal fuss. Very impressed.
We arrived earlier than we thought from Awaroa to Anchorage and they accommodated us (group of 4) onto 2 taxis. They did this with minimal fuss. Very impressed.
Written 3 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RizzoRules
Frinton-On-Sea, UK42 contributions
Jan 2024 • Couples
We took the afternoon 3 hour scenic cruise round trip from Marahau and had a great time especially with our skipper Vaughn at the helm. We visited several beautiful places on route. Unfortunately there were no seals at the seal colony but Vaughn went out of his way to find one. We also got to see some stingrays and to top it off we saw a pod of around 200 dolphins with some following the boat and jumping in the wake. Absolutely amazing!
Written 23 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Libranace
New Plymouth, New Zealand218 contributions
Mar 2021
Very helpful service from start to finish. My partner had a minor foot injury so could not cross the estaury from Awaroa Hut to Totaranui so we doubled back to Awaroa Lodge and rang and asked if we could be picked up there instead. It would have been the same timetable but different location. The boats arrived on time at Awaroa and we paddled out to them. Jason, our skipper, was helpful with packs and assisting us when on the ramp. Jason stopped at Pinnacle Island so we could watch the fur seals which was delightful. We then stopped again with the engine off and we were surrounded by bottle-nosed dolphins which was magical and made the trip. We sped off back to Marahua picking up passengers at Bark Bay. The boat is towed back to base at Marahau by a tractor. Excellent service for trampers. I was very impressed that they will even take your packs while you walk - we carried our own for the whole three days!
Written 28 March 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GeoNaran
Auckland Central, New Zealand28 contributions
Feb 2021 • Friends
Two friends and I used the Abel Tasman Aqua Taxi on a one way trip from Marahau to Bark Bay & were impressed! We were pleasantly surprised to find that the trip includes a visit to Split Apple Rock & to see some fur seals. Our skipper Milan was very knowledgeable and tried hard to keep everyone on the boat dry despite bumpy conditions. I'd definitely recommend these guys to others looking to do the same trip.
Written 5 February 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are looking to get dropped off at bark bay and anchorage on the way back from Awaroa. We’ve been quoted $150 for the round trip. Does this seem a bit excessive? Would have thought as it’s $47 one way to Awaroa it shouldn’t cost much more than that regardless if you get on and off along the way heading back. Anyone done a similar journey?
Written 2 March 2019
Thanks maggie 4659. Your answer was helpful, sorry I pressed the wrong button (should’ve gone to spec savers! 😄) i discovered it was additional DOC charges for extra stops that contributed to the extra cost So completely understand. We had a Great day out with Abel Tasman water Taxis. Great value, professional service.
Written 3 March 2019
can we use the water taxi to get to awaroa lodge and how much is the water taxi ??? as i have a partner doing work out there thank you
Written 23 July 2018
Araroa lodge was one of the stops so you can get there. You’ll need to check out their website for the timetable and costs.
Written 1 August 2018
Can I book on the day I want to travel?
Written 15 January 2016
Yes, you can book on the day, but "in season" particularly, they become busy and you may not have a choice. I'm sure you will be able to though. We last went in winter and the boat was almost full of people wanting to be taken up the coast and tramp overland back again.
Written 16 January 2016
Showing results 1-5 of 5
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing