Bus Tours
5–6 hours
Free cancellation
Not sure? You can cancel this booking up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
Recommended by 94% of travellers
94% of reviewers gave this product a bubble rating of 4 or higher.
from
$210
per adult
Bay Of Islands Tours
Bay Of Islands Tours
5
Sightseeing ToursPrivate ToursNature & Wildlife ToursWine Tours & Tastings Day Trips
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
7:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Full view
About
We are a locally owned an operated tour company in the Bay Of Islands. We specialise in full or half day personalised private tours. We can put together your perfect day in the Bay Of Islands ensuring that you see all the highlights plus a few personal favourites from your local guides. We also have a list of set tours that you can choose from. Should you be travelling on a cruise ship - get in touch prior to your departure and we can organise your day trip. We guarantee to get you back to the ship on time! Get in touch with us today!
Tours and Tickets by Bay Of Islands Tours
Eco Tours
2–3 hours
Free cancellation
Not sure? You can cancel this booking up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
from
$155
per adult
Travellers talk about
(7 reviews)
(7 reviews)
(19 reviews)
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5.0
102 reviews
Excellent
91
Very good
7
Average
3
Poor
0
Terrible
1
Dazal0
Adelaide, Australia321 contributions
We had a shortened trip because of Ship timing. So the tour was shortened by 2 hours. So we had to move along a bit but as it turned out our driver managed to fit it all in plus a extra shop. We had even enough time for a quick beer or two. Well done to all involved.
Written 13 November 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.
BOITOURS1
Thanks for your review. We are so pleased you enjoyed your tour with us.
It can be tricky when the ship changes it's departure time on the morning, but our guides will always make sure you see all the highlights and have you back in time well before the last tender! Bonus you had time for a couple of quick beers too!
Thank you,
Chloe
Written 21 November 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Julie N
Seattle, WA4 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
The glow worm caves were fascinating once our eyes adjusted to the darkness, then traveled through the countryside with beautiful green farmland with cattle, sheep and horses, a walk through the jungle forest with huge kauri trees, then the waterfall. Very informative guides.
Written 3 November 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review! We are glad you had a great day.
Kind regards,
Chloe
Written 21 November 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Wendy R
Guelph, Canada85 contributions
Apr 2023 • Friends
Just a review of the Bay of Islands Tours Ltd. We were on a cruise ship that was to stop at the Bay of Islands and the Cruise ship couldn't make it into port. Contacted the Tour company and they reimbursed us for the trip even though it wasn't 48 hours notice. Cheers to their company.
Written 11 May 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you for your review on our refund policy. We greatly appreciate your time and consideration.
Kindest regards,
Chloe
Written 19 October 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Ron B
2 contributions
Mar 2023
Had a great day out. The smaller groups as opposed to the ship tours makes getting around a lot easier.Loved the Glow worm Caves.Loved the chocolate shop where we went a bit crazy on buying the chocolate.
Written 27 March 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.
Deidre B
Nowra, Australia41 contributions
Mar 2023 • Couples
This was a thoroughly enjoyable day trip which we did while in port and our driver Charlie was a local and very knowledgeable. Loved the Glow worm tour and Kauri forest walk and could’ve spent more time there but we were limited with time. We had other stops at the waterfall and lookout which was beautiful and the chocolate shop which had yummy products to purchase and a wood carving shop was also nearby which had great souvenirs.
Written 23 March 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.
DACJH
Los Angeles, CA10 contributions
Feb 2023
Our guide, Mike, was the perfect Kiwi spokesperson. He showed us the love of his country and shared many facts.
Written 16 February 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.
Ellison J
Phoenix26 contributions
Jan 2023
I would definitely recommend this tour vs the tour provided by NCL on this island. My friends did the ship tour and I did this one. Absolutely no comparison! We went to the glow worm cave, the forest, a waterfall, chocolate factory, a great little place for lunch, a beautiful lookout area, and so much more. This tour was less expensive than the ship tour and they jam packed so much into the time allotted. My friends were so disappointed they did not join me! They did an excellent job getting us back to the ship on time. This tour company is getting back on it's feet after Covid and the owner is responsive and truly cares about each of her tourist's experiences!
Written 1 February 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you so much for your detailed review.
We appreciate you taking the time to write your experience.
We are so pleased to hear you really enjoyed your day on tour with us!
We are getting back on our feet after Covid, and there have been a few bumps this season, but ultimately it's been a successful re start to welcoming the cruise lines back into our little town that very much relies on the visitors!
We hope you had a wonderful rest of your cruise.
Thank you!
Chloe
Written 1 February 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Anton
Australia5 contributions
Good itinerary, good tour. Driver very friendly and provided effective commentary throughout.
We did tour as part of a very rushed, one day cruise stopover. Selected this self-led tour instead of the cruise organised option despite this actually being a few dollars dearer than Royal Caribbean!
Did we ‘get more’ for our money? I don’t think so. Our minibus was clean and acceptable in terms of comfort but was nothing like the modern shiny silver ones in the pictures, it looked like a well used rental.
We were left to wander through the kauri forest on our own which was nice but we quickly found ourselves eavesdropping on the guided tour being provided to our fellow ship mates under the ship organised tour. There’s a lot of interesting facts that cannot be determined from the few sign posts on the walk.
Lastly, because this was an ‘external tour’ we had the stress of getting up early to secure tickets for an early tender so as to not miss the tour bus. As it was, several people on our tour did miss the start causing our bus to U-turn after viewing the Falls and backtrack to collect. This probably cost around 30-40mins in lost time.
I always look for 3rd party tour options and find Tripadvisor to be a great place to find cost effective and enjoyable experiences. On this occasion however and with the benefit of hindsight I would go with the slightly cheaper and significantly less stressful ship organised tour.
We did tour as part of a very rushed, one day cruise stopover. Selected this self-led tour instead of the cruise organised option despite this actually being a few dollars dearer than Royal Caribbean!
Did we ‘get more’ for our money? I don’t think so. Our minibus was clean and acceptable in terms of comfort but was nothing like the modern shiny silver ones in the pictures, it looked like a well used rental.
We were left to wander through the kauri forest on our own which was nice but we quickly found ourselves eavesdropping on the guided tour being provided to our fellow ship mates under the ship organised tour. There’s a lot of interesting facts that cannot be determined from the few sign posts on the walk.
Lastly, because this was an ‘external tour’ we had the stress of getting up early to secure tickets for an early tender so as to not miss the tour bus. As it was, several people on our tour did miss the start causing our bus to U-turn after viewing the Falls and backtrack to collect. This probably cost around 30-40mins in lost time.
I always look for 3rd party tour options and find Tripadvisor to be a great place to find cost effective and enjoyable experiences. On this occasion however and with the benefit of hindsight I would go with the slightly cheaper and significantly less stressful ship organised tour.
Written 26 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you for your detailed review.
It was a challenge getting these tours out with 2 days notice of the ship making an unscheduled arrival. As the arrival time was not set in stone, we did out best to ensure the family of 7 that struggled to get off the ship in time was looked after. On this occasion we felt it fair to get them on the tour which meant a 10 minute trip back to the port after a visit to the waterfalls to pick them up.
It's hard to keep everyone happy when it comes to this. People are thankful we waited the extra few minutes for them to make the tour, where as people who were off early are often frustrated that they had to wait for late people. We do our best to keep a happy middle ground here. We can guarantee that you would not have lost any time off the tour or locations because of this.
The vehicle used was a 2020 Rosa with 40,000kms on the odometer. We believe these to be the best touring vehicles in terms of seat size, large windows, wonderful air conditioning and a great speaker system. Admittedly, Mitsubishi have not updated the interior for the new models so they can appear to be a bit older.
We are glad that you enjoyed all the stops on the tour and that your guide was informative and provided commentary throughout the day.
We understand the anxiety that comes with booking an independent tour, and we do our absolute best to accommodate for everyone and make this as least stressful as possible.
We hope you had a wonderful rest of the cruise despite the change in itinerary for you due to the weather.
Thank you,
Chloe
Written 1 February 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Robert K
1 contribution
Jan 2023 • Couples
We mostly enjoyed our tour. It was nice to have a guide drive and navigate. We could have used more time at 3 of the stops. We felt rushed and the driver nearly left customers several times. It was scheduled to be 5.5 hours and ours was 45 less. We could have used that extra time at the stops. The driver did make an extra stop at a lookout of our cruise ship which was nice!
Written 16 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you for taking the time to review our tour. We apologise that you felt rushed on this day. It's certainly not how we intend to run our tours. Our drivers main priority is to get passengers back to the ship on time and occasionally the last tender time is changed on the day last minute and we have to adjust the tour timings during the day. We are glad you enjoyed having a guide drive and navigate on the day and we hope you learned a lot about the history of the Bay of Islands.
Thank you!
Chloe
Written 23 January 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
jmbMaidstone
Maidstone, UK48 contributions
Great value driver and mini bus waiting for us Garth was great full interesting stories and history of the area.Glow worms caves were special and the cave guides fun . Best we’re the ancient forest I would strongly recommend the whole tour.
Written 12 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.
BOITOURS1
Thank you for a wonderful review. We are so glad you had a great day with Gareth.
Chloe
Written 17 January 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Anand-Sara R
3 contributions
We'd like to sign up for this 5 1/2 hr. tour. How much time will it take to get to the first stop? Then, how much time will it take from the last stop to the port?
Travellovernz
Auckland Central, New Zealand7 contributions
Hi there and thank you for your question.
It is a 30 minute drive to the first stop of the day (Glow worm caves) then there are several stops on the way home towards the port. The waterfalls are a 5 minute drive from the port :)
I hope this helps.
Thank you!
Chloe
Jeannette S
Leumeah, Australia
Will be in Bay of islands on the 7th feb 2017 RH cruise Ovation of the seas, . Would like to see as much as possible including the Glow worm caves, cheese ,wine & chocolate tasting, waterfall if possible . Four adults what price , happy for a full day tour.
Thanks
Jeannette
BOITOURS
Paihia, New Zealand1 contribution
Hi Jeanette,
Thank you for your message!
We would love to have you on board for the day with us on the 7th Feb next year!
We currently have 6 seats left on our "Cruise Shore Tour" which is a 5 hour tour designed specifically for cruise ship passengers visiting the following destinations;
Kawiti Glow Worm Caves
Hundertwasser Toilets
Puketi Forest
Makana Chocolate Factory
Kauri Work Shop
Haruru Waterfalls
Waitangi look out
You can find us at bayofislands.tours
Or you can message me directly at info@bayofislands.tours
Please let me know if there is any further information that you would like.
Kindest regards,
Chloe
carazz3692
Melton South, Australia
Hi we will be staying in Paihia in September 2017 (2 adults). I would like to know if there are tours to Hobbiton and the glow caves leaving from Paihia. If yes, can you please tell me how long it takes to get there and some description of the tour and the cost?
Travellovernz
Auckland Central, New Zealand7 contributions
Hi and thanks for your enquiry.
Unfortunately Hobbiton is a 6 hour drive south of Paihia so we do not run tours that far. However Paihia does have its own Glow worm caves 20 minutes drive away that we run tours to frequently. Email me at info@bayofislands.tours if you would like further details.
P.s you would be better staying in Rotorua when you decide to do your trip to Hobbiton. :)
Kindest regards,
Chloe
macshairplace
Charlotte, NC4 contributions
Hi, We will be arriving by RC cruise on January 18, probably 7-10 people what tour do you recommend, we would like to see as much as possible and will book soon, thanks for any suggestions. Beverly McIntosh
Travellovernz
Auckland Central, New Zealand7 contributions
Hi Beverly,
Thank you for your message!
I can highly recommend our "Cruise shore tour"
This tour is custom made for cruise ship passengers. It allows you to see all the highlights of the bay of islands in the short amount of time you may have on shore. Please email me at info@bayofislands.tours and we can get this booked in for you.
Kindest regards,
Chloe