The Rock Overnight Bay of Islands Cruise
Highlights & inclusions
1. Select date
December 2024
2. Select participants
What you can expect
The Rock Overnight Cruise is an ingenious, purpose-built floating houseboat. This unique boat cruise offers guests the chance to truly experience all that the beautiful Bay of Islands has to offer. A dedicated, professional crew are on hand for your enjoyment, your comfort and your safety. This amazing vessel is well equipped with facilities including an open fire and a spacious bar area with a pool table and piano. The cruise includes a fantastic range of activities like snorkelling, fishing at dusk and kayaking at night amongst the glimmering phosphorescence, followed by a delicious BBQ dinner under the stars.
The Rock Cruise is designed to give you ample time so that you can see, do and experience so much more of the Bay of Islands. Whether you want to see the local wildlife, explore an island, soak up the sun, or partake in a friendly game of beach cricket, it's all at your fingertips. There is plenty of free time for you to do your own thing and you can choose to be as busy or as laid back as you like.
Location
What you need to know
- Overnight cruise through the Bay of Islands
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Guided activities of kayaking, fishing, snorkelling
- Boarding begins at 5 pm from the Paihia Wharf (4 pm outside Daylight Savings)
- Introductions, safety briefing and cruise into the island
- Shooting competition or just playing pool and enjoying the scenery
- Trolling for Kahawai, a type of sea trout
- Drop anchor for the evening in a quiet bay and dusk fishing for snapper
- BBQ buffet dinner as the sun sets
- Night kayaking in the phosphorescence
- Music, bar, pool table or swapping stories around the open log fire
- Night swimming and star and planet viewing
- Quiet boat after 12 pm
- Day two breakfast bell at 8 am
- Cruising further around the islands
- Snorkelling and collecting seafood on an outer reef (if sea conditions allow)
- Cruise to an island for our lunchtime visit and island walk
- Exploring the island by kayak snorkelling, swimming or just relaxing on the beach
- Lunch on the beach
- Lift anchor and begin cruising home (approx 1 pm)
- Seafood tasting and trolling for fish
- Arrive back in Paihia approx 3 pm (or 2 pm outside Daylight Savings)
- Meet the crew at Paihia Wharf
- Driving directions from Auckland - Take State Highway 1 north out of Auckland. (This is the main North/South Motorway that runs through Auckland.) From Kawakawa the Bay of Islands is signposted. The Paihia Wharf is in the middle of the small township and is easy to spot on your right hand side as you drive into town
- Snacks
- Towels and swimwear
- Warm jacket
- Camera
- An overnight bag
- Walking shoes and sandals
- No hiking boots are to be worn onboard
- Extra cash or credit card for the bar
- No drugs or alcohol to be brought on board The Rock
- The Rock is a hairdryer/straightener-free zone, this is due to limited power supply
- All other meals are included in a standard rate, for convenience a picnic lunch option is offered for the second day of the cruise. Please note lunch must be ordered at least 24 hours in advance of cruising. Choice of beef, ham or vegetarian sandwiches, fresh fruit, muesli bar, chocolate brownie and a soft drink
- Families with children of all ages are welcome on our cruises. However, it is required that families with children under the age of 16 take a private cabin for the comfort of both the children and the other guests onboard
- Child rate applies to children between 3-12yrs
- Maximum 36 guests
- The Rock features a spacious and open downstairs living area that includes a bar, dining area, lounge, pool table, piano and open fire. The exterior open deck is the ideal platform for fishing, target shooting, swimming, kayaking and snorkelling. Upstairs all cabins have sea views and doors that open onto observation decks perfect for viewing the scenery or wildlife
- Due to licensing regulations no alcohol is to be brought aboard the vessel. There is a full bar facility aboard The Rock
- All luggage and personal effects are at all times your responsibility
- Minimum number of 10 guests. Should the minimum numbers not be reached we reserve the right to cancel the trip and offer guests a full refund of the cruise price or transfer to another cruise date
- All departures, activities and itineraries are subject to weather, tides and sea conditions
- Change your booking up to 72 hours before the start time of your experience
- Changes are not permitted within 72 hours of your experience
- Late arrivals or no-shows may result in you forfeiting your experience
- Confirmation in the form of a tour voucher will be received at time of booking
- Upon completion of purchase, please print the voucher and present on day of the experience.
- For your information, complete Tour Operator Information including contact details is included on your tour voucher
Recent reviews
Mich
about 8 years ago
This cruise totally exceeded all expectations
This cruise totally exceeded all expectations! The boat itself is full of character as are all the friendly staff. We paid for the double room which I would highly recommend as the views were lovely from the bedroom (balcony out the front) and it was just that little bit more spacious. The dinner on board was really nice and we met so many cool groups of people on-baord. I travelled with my partner and parents and there were all ages, races and sizes on board and everyone got along. The night time kayaking was a blast and the snorkelling the next day even better! We were really lucky when we one to the bay to do the hill walk as there were orca whales chasing stingray in the bay - it was so awesome to see!!! It was such a beautiful way to explore the Bay of Islands and would highly recommend this.