Bay of Islands Cruise Tour: Explore Glow Worm Caves and Picturesque Landscapes

Create lasting memories on this half-day tour of the Bay of Islands from your cruise ships arrival at the Waitangi Wharf.

The Bay of Islands is a popular tourist destination in New Zealand. This guided tour shows you an abundance of breathtaking picturesque views giving you plenty of fantastic photo opportunities. The area is often referred to as \

Duration: 5 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Paihia Harbour - See the Paihia harbour as we drive through
  • Haruru Falls - View the waterfalls
  • Makana Chocolate Boutique - Sample some of the finest chocolates
  • Kawiti Caves - Stunning guided tour of the glow worm caves
  • Manginangina Kauri Walk - A beautiful short walk
What's Included
  • Bottled water
  • Expert driver/guide
  • Exquisite chocolate-tasting experience
  • Comfortable in-vehicle air conditioning
  • Convenient port pickup and drop-off
  • Engaging live commentary on board
  • All local taxes included
What's Not Included
  • Food and Drinks
Additional Information
  • At time of booking, Cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time
  • 100% refund will be issued if your ship can’t make it into port due to weather conditions.
  • If your ship is scheduled to arrive after 9.30am - the tour departure time will…
Location
P3HJ+8V Waitangi
We will be waiting at the end of the Waitangi Wharf - where your tender boats drop you with a sign saying "Bay of Islands Tours" If you are staying at a hotel - please list your hotel name when booking so we can pick you up from reception.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.5
(275 Ratings)
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Margaret_m
Mar 28, 2025
Outstanding day - Thank you for an amazing day of adventure especially the glow worms - highlight of the day. The guide was very informative and communicated well. We enjoyed our stop at the pie shop and loved the chocolate tasting - definitely don't miss this stop. We highly recommend this tour you will love it
Review provided by Viator
Helen_j
Mar 24, 2025
This tour was an... - This tour was an alternative to the hole in the rock tour and although I didn’t attend, my friends found this trip very interesting and wasn’t at all strenuous. They all reported that they would recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Nathan_t
Mar 23, 2025
Excellent tour, highly recommend! - The glow worms were incredible. It was like looking at the night sky with billions of stars. I just wish the location had some souvenirs, tshirts or data about them in print. They would make a ton of money. The tropical forest with the huge trees was a beautiful thing to see. Unfortunately we were unable to see a waterfall because it had not rained in a while. Our guide Charlie, did take us up to a lookout point where we could see our ship and the beautiful bay. Excellent tour! I would highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_a
Mar 22, 2025
Enjoyable tour - We were tendered off the ship in Bay of Islands where we met our guide Rob. We loaded the bus and went on a Short Kauri walk to see the beautiful, old and large Kauri trees. Then we went to a nice waterfall. We had meat pies at a cafe. We stopped at a chocolate store and had samples...good. We went to the glow worm cave which was interesting. Rob was friendly and gave great information throughout the tour. We'll done.
Review provided by Viator
Randy_b
Mar 22, 2025
Glow Worm Caves - Great experience I appreciated the good commentary. We went to the glow worm caves a definite must see. With a stop at the chocolate factory store made it even better.
Review provided by Viator
Lisa_b
Mar 25, 2025
A pleasant enough day - The glow worm cave was the highlight of the day. Very worth seeing. Unfortunately the stop at the falls did not happen because they weren't flowing due to the area having been in a recent drought. This definitely isn't the fault of the tour company as they have no control over the weather. In place of the waterfalls, we went to an area to look at some toilets. Yes, you heard me. Toilets. While they were somewhat pretty, they really didn't need to be stopped at. The lunch break was at a delicious bakery. The meat pies are worth trying and delicious. My one request is that in the future, the tour guide accompany us through the walk in the fern forest. The scenery was stunning but I had no idea what kind of plants I was looking at. Other tours on the walk were accompanied by their guide and given commentary. Our tour guide Charles remained with the coach. All in all, it was a pleasant day which could have benefitted from some mild tweeks.
Review provided by Viator
Clinton_l
Mar 23, 2025
There was other... - There was other activities in the Bay of islands which in mind sight we should have done. But the tour guide Greg, made our day and the tour 4 out of 5.
Review provided by Viator
Debra_c
Mar 22, 2025
Glowworm caves - The guide was wonderful. He was extremely funny and entertaining and told us of all the in particulars of the area. He took us completely over the whole area of new zealand where we were.
Review provided by Viator
Joel_h
Mar 21, 2025
Nice Excursion - Ok Glow Worm Caves - Unfortunately our day was cut short due to a delay in our cruise ship tendering passengers to shore. However, the tour company was great and waited for guests that couldn't get off the ship until much later than planned. This did shorten our day (no fault of the tour company). Our guide, Alan, did a good job of getting us to our spots and giving us enough time to see things given our condensed time. He gave us pertinent information and made the day enjoyable. It was great to see the glow worm caves, but the experience was underwhelming. The groups are too large and it's hard to hear the cave guide at times. The time in the caves seemed short and went by much faster than anticipated. Overall a decent excursion given the limited time ashore.
Review provided by Viator
Richard_b
Mar 27, 2025
Meh - Attractions were Meh. Driver was very good and informative but the attractions were not worth it. Glow worm cave was pretty underwhelming.
Review provided by Viator
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up to 15 guests
1 Adult
April 2025
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