Rotorua Day Tour: Exploring Wai o Tapu, Waimangu, and Te Puia's Geothermal Wonders and Maori Culture
4.6
8 Ratings
Rotorua
Embark on a thrilling day tour in Rotorua, New Zealand, exploring the captivating geothermal wonders of Wai o Tapu and Waimangu. Immerse yourself in Maori culture at Te Puia and discover the rich history and customs of the Maori people.
Duration: 9 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland - Journey to Wai O Tapu, one of the world’s most surreal destinations. You will spend approximately 45-60min in the park before departing to the Lady Knox geyser.
  • Lady Knox Geyser - Our journey will guide you to the Lady Knox geyser who only erupts once a day at 10.15 am. Come along and found out the story behind her punctuality.
  • Waimangu Volcanic Valley - We journey to the Jurassic Waimangu valley, the youngest geothermal eco-system in the world.

Here we will witness first hand the power and beauty of mother nature and the aftermath of the 1886 volcanic eruption of Mt Tarawera.

We spend approximately 90min here, including a 30min lunch break at the scenic Waimangu cafe.

  • Te Puia - Finally, journey with our local guide to Te Puia and learn more about Maori culture.

Te Puia is New Zealand’s Maori arts and crafts institute. Here we will introduce you to the process of Maori carving, weaving, and casting.

At the heart of Te Puia lives New Zealand’s largest geyser, Pohutu. Unlike Lady Knox in the morning program, Pohutu can erupt up to 20 times a day, approximately every 90min and reaching heights of 100ft (35 meters)

Te Puia is also home to 3 kiwis who have been breed and raised in conservation.

Hopefully, at the conclusion of the day you will see not 1 but 2 geysers as well as enough kiwi birds to quench your Kiwi needs.

We stay here from approximately 60-90min

What's Included
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • All fees and/or taxes
What's Not Included
  • Bottled water
  • Lunch
Additional Information

The tour departs daily between 8:00-8:30 am. from your accommodation and drives you through forestry and farmland to New Zealand’s largest boiling mud pool. Your guide shows you a series of colorful hot springs and volcanic features at Wai-O-Tapu. Then see the Lady Knox geyser eruption at 10:15 am.

Next a short drive to the Waimangu Volcanic Valley where your guide explains the Mt. Tarawera eruption which blew open this spectacular, bush-covered, geothermal park.

Spend the afternoon experiencing Rotorua’s Maori culture and geothermal activity and see how they are intricately entwined. First, a guided tour through Te Puia, Rotorua’s premier cultural attraction. This includes a visit to the wood carving school, art and craft gallery, Rotowhio Marae, weaving display, kiwi house and finally the Pohutu geyser.

Next, we visit the Lakefront area to see the Maori War Canoe and learn more about Maori history and customs.

  • Medium level of fitness required
Location
Rotorua Museum / Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa
Please wait outside the front of the Rotorua museum (currently closed).
Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
4.6
(8 Ratings)
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169mahsag
Feb 8, 2024
Unforgettable day in Rotorua - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
E3436zkjuliab
Sep 9, 2023
I highly recommend this tour - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nrhaisen
Feb 12, 2020
WONDERFUL! - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anotherphillip
Dec 30, 2019
A really fun and personable 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Venture51265603143
Oct 24, 2019
Full day Eco Tour - My tour was great. It ended up raining the whole day, and I was the only one on the tour, so Brian let me pick the things I wanted to do that day. He was very knowledgeable, entertaining, and made the tour a lot of fun.
Review provided by Viator
Q2112yhstephanieh
May 24, 2024
Don’t miss Waimangu or Te Puia; okay to miss Waiotapu - 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.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Glen_s
Feb 28, 2024
Enjoyed tour - To much spare time. Could have given a little more time for lunch. The tour itself was very good and I would recommend it
Review provided by Viator
Kai_wah
Dec 8, 2023
Fun Tour with Tour Guide Linda - 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!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 11 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
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