Wrights Watergardens
Wrights Watergardens
3
Monday
Closed
Tuesday
Closed
Wednesday
Closed
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
About
Wrights Watergardens and Water Garden Function Centre is a unique watergarden located 45 minutes south of Auckland city. Features include ponds, gardens and pathways surround the historic Mauku Waterfall and rock quarry. The beautiful garden is a popular choice for garden visits, weddings, special occasions and celebrations. A garden nursery, café and gift shop are also located onsite.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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3.0
77 reviews
Excellent
11
Very good
21
Average
13
Poor
10
Terrible
22
JohnDeereQueen
Bay of Plenty Region, New Zealand73 contributions
Dec 2024 • Family
The $8 entry fee is simply outrageous! The place honestly looks as though the owners bought a bulk lot of cheap concrete sculptures - and I use the word sculpture generously - and scattered them randomly around and then decide to charge for viewing them. This place is an embarrassment to Aotearoa New Zealand for tourists to our country to think this is what a sculpture park with an entry fee looks like here. I highly recommend the owners travel around Aotearoa New Zealand and see the stunning scenery we can visit without paying an entry free. I think a koha box at the gate could be a good idea however I do not consider this to be a fee-paying experience of value.
Written 31 December 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.
Keitha S
Auckland, New Zealand116 contributions
Jan 2023
Wrights Watergardens has all the elements one needs for a great garden experience - space, terrain made for a lot of interesting tracks and a super impressive waterfall. And, in fact, I suspect that at one point in its history, Wrights Watergardens must have been awesome. However, whether because of Covid and a lack of visitors or some other factors, the tracks are not maintained to the sort of standard you would expect in a place you pay money to go into, wooden features such as a pergola over a bridge and a swing seat all look as though they were put together in about 1972 and then just left to slowly decompose and even the waterlily beds themselves needed a bit of weeding. Mother Nature has, however, kept up her end of the bargain and the waterfall is seriously cool. Here's hoping a bit more love and|or money comes to help the rest.
Written 29 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.
Patricia T
Auckland, New Zealand21 contributions
Oct 2020
Cafe busy but no excuse for warm coffee, 3/4 hour to serve soup and toast and another party who arrived after us served an elaborate meal ahead of us. Staff very polite and apologetic. Suggest folk try a cafe in Pukekohe. Gardens however amazing. Peaceful, rustic and tidy without a manicured look. Well worth a visit. Rated it average because of cafe
Written 2 October 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.
Mike W
123 contributions
Dec 2021 • Couples
Having read some indifferent reviews, I came with no expectations. I am very glad to say that Wrights Water Gardens are a real treat. The gardens are very well maintained and we'll set out. The maintenance of the whole property is of a very high standard. There were a huge number of lilies flowering as well as many other flowering plants. The waterfall is a highlight but this is not a one feature attraction. We stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed every little bit of the gardens. The entrance fee for the gardens is a very reasonable $8.00 which was well worth the fee. A very pleasant way to spend a few hours. The cafe was trading under some Covid restriction- never the less, the food was lovely and was served quickly. Highly recommended.
Written 30 December 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.
LoneTraveller61
Auckland Central, New Zealand73 contributions
Jan 2020 • Solo
The gardens are.just a shambles of ponds with water lillies. walkways are not maintained and its just a confusing maze of nothing. The cafe is less than adequate. At 12:30pm on a Sunday they were out of muffins and it took 25 minutes to get a simple long black coffee in a fairly empty cafe. I dont recommend this place.
Written 18 January 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.
Found_Lost_Key
New Zealand1,183 contributions
Jan 2021 • Couples
Free parking. You enter via a busy cafe where you pay the entrance fee. Toilets are here. The gardens are nice with plenty to see including a substantial waterfall at one end. Not suitable for wheelchairs. We spent a couple of hours here exploring all the different paths, taking photos etc.
Written 8 January 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.
jdarcyAuckland
Auckland, New Zealand96 contributions
Jan 2020
Our recent visit was a disappointment.
First of all the menus were old and tattered. The service was slow but pleasant..
My fish and chips were supposed to be beer battered, but were hard and crisp, with no sign of tender batter.
lIL;m affraid the site and the restaurant have deteriorated since sold to nw owners. l
Will not be going back.
First of all the menus were old and tattered. The service was slow but pleasant..
My fish and chips were supposed to be beer battered, but were hard and crisp, with no sign of tender batter.
lIL;m affraid the site and the restaurant have deteriorated since sold to nw owners. l
Will not be going back.
Written 19 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.
Louise
1 contribution
Jan 2020 • Family
Dont bother spending the money to go through the garden! I could tell this place once was a very loved garden with a lot of effort put into it..sadly I think it has new owners and is now very over grown and lots of random pieces of junk around the place. Actually quite sad as could see it could be a beautiful place. I hope the owners read all of these reveiws and take note, as this is no doubt the reason the place was empty at 10am morning tea time on a beautiful sunny sunday!
Written 11 January 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.
Zoe
1 contribution
May 2022 • Family
The waterfall is the only saving grace for these gardens. The ponds are poorly maintained and are running to ruin, even the plants in the nursery for sale have seen better days. Could be truly spectacular, but no one seems to have invested the time or money into making it so
Written 6 May 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.
zl1gwe55
Waiheke Island, New Zealand12 contributions
Jan 2020
We have previously visited the Watergardens, when it was previously owned, however, it appears to have been subdivided now. The current hosts are very helpful, and very pleasant. We visited with our two big dogs, as a day out and buy a Water Lily, which we successfully did. The restarant and staff were very good and it was a great day out. We did not go into the water gardens themselves, but will certainly do so on another visit in the future.
Written 11 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.
Why are the gardens so messy and over grown?
Why is there not much selection of food to eat at the cafe?
Written 8 November 2015
Just wondering if it is correct you do not have a Cafe on site anymore only available for functions. Making enquiries for a Probus Club visit.
Also the best time to visit your gardens. Many thanks in advance Tricia Norton.
Written 15 March 2015
I have rung up before and asked to book a table on a Saturday for lunch and they said they didn't take bookings so I assumed there was no cafe. I went there today for the first time and there is a cafe, but it seems to mainly cater for casual drinks or weddings when it's all set up. There wasn't much food available
Written 8 November 2015
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