Rotorua Geothermal Living Maori Village Tour Whakarewarewa 6.5hours Tour
Recommended by 92% of travelers
Tauranga, New Zealand
- 6 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
What's Included
- Experienced professional guide
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Maori cultural performance
- FREE light lunch, hangi style
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- Personal expenses
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 1 Salisbury Avenue, Mount Maunganui 3116, New Zealand
The meeting point for passengers off the cruise ships is on the grass by the flag poll just outside the port pedestrian exit gate on Salisbury Avenue. If you are not travelling on a cruise ship then this is still the meeting point unless you have made an alternative arrangement with us.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village
2 hours • Admission Ticket Included
2
Lake Rotorua
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Government Gardens
10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Rotorua
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
5
Tauranga
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
6
Mount Maunganui
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Te Puke (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- You must provide your own infant/child seat if required
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately. We suggest layers with hats and sunscreen
- Tour departure time may change due to early and/or late ship arrivals and departures. You will be notified at time of booking Please check your emails to confirm tour departure times. This will over ride the time printed on the voucher.
- Please check in with us 15 minutes prior to the departure time we advise you.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.6
based on 165 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Bette_L, May 2026
Very good experience & covered a lot of the people's history. Liked the experience of hot steamy water. Didn't care for or liked the smell of the water. It's like rotten eggs 🥶 All in all was a fun excursion.
Carolyn_M, Apr 2026
The guide did a great job of continuing with interesting information about the area the whole ride there. It was nice that they don’t take a huge group at one time. The geothermal area was fascinating. The Māori tribal show was wonderful! We had a nice lunch included. Would recommend this tour!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you for your very positive review, regards Ian
Chantalle_M, Apr 2026
Very efficient and organised pick up at the entrance to the cruise port.
Saskia was an extremely knowledgeable guide, making the drive to Rotorua really interesting.
The Maori village was amazing, the cultural show of traditional song and dance was both uplifting and moving.
Absolutely no worries about getting back to the ship on time.
100% recommended
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thanks for the great review, regards Ian
Dian_M, Mar 2026
It driver/ guide. Jack, was entertaining and very informative. Thoroughly enjoyed spending time in the Maori living village and learning about the culture. Our visit to the kiwi farm was very informative. Also enjoyed a quiet walk thru a forest.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for the kind comments and we are pleased you enjoyed the tour. Regards Ian
Karen_B, Mar 2026
The best tour guide ever! He was funny, entertaining and very informative. It was a lot of fun spending time with him. He deserves a raise! Outstanding! We had a great tour of the Maori village, Redwood Forest, kiwi farm. Highly recommend if you can get this tour guide!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for the kind comments and we are pleased you enjoyed the tour. Regards Ian
George_M, Mar 2026
Seen on TV and it looked very exciting but when l got there it was more like a film set, and l feel it was overpriced.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Hi George, i am sorry that you did not enjoy the tour. It is NOT a film set; this is the village where the local Maori people have lived since they arrived in New Zealand hundreds of years ago. Our tour covers a lot more than just the Living Maori village, with Rotorua city sights, the Redwoods Forest, and kiwi fruit orchards as well as lunch and a drink. Perhaps you booked the wrong tour! Regards Ian
Amanda_R, Mar 2026
Very efficient informative excursion with fantastic guide Jack .
We were very well looked after and experienced the geothermal village, Redwoods and stopped at a kiwi farm for ice cream. Pick up
Etc all very smooth
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for the feedback, regards Ian
Kathryn_W, Mar 2026
Jack was great and it was a very nice tour. Saw a lot and even had kiwi ice cream at a kiwi farm. The Maori experience was little too crowded though and felt like we were being herded like catle but that's not the tour operator's fault.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thanks for your kind comments. The Maori cultural experience is very popular and with a large cruise ship in port there will always be a lot of people at the best location. Regards Ian
Beverly_A, Mar 2026
An excursion not to be missed
Brian was an exceptional guide! The Mauri experience was wonderful!!!!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
So pleased you had a good time with guide Brian on the tour, regards Ian
Donna_E, Mar 2026
Pros: Enjoyed the tour guide at Maori Village, especially the Village "guide" (Fay) and the provided lunch was tasty. Cons: Tour was so overbooked by Viator that my husband and I were split up between front with driver and very back of the van/bus where I sat next to very "openly ill" passenger who probably shouldn't have come. Very uncomfortable trying to "distance" and luckily, as of yet, not come down with it! Viator shouldn't fill van/buses to capacity and leave at least some "wiggle room" for passengers.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Sorry that you were not sat with your partner. Viator send us 100's of bookings for the 4 tours we list on their web site. We have a range of vehicles from 6 to 36 seats we use. It just depends on how the passengers arrive as to where on the vehicle they can sit. We always try to get couples seat that are adjacent, but sometimes other customers all want to hog a window seat [even if they are a couple] and this leaves lots of individual seats. Due to the size of the cruise ships and the demand for our tours, the vehicles are usually 100% full. We are sorry that your experience was not as you hoped and also that you do not come down with a bug after the trip. Regards Ian
Philip_S, Feb 2026
An hour and half drive both ways we was communicated to by John throughout in an informative way .We attended the geyser site and mouri village both the same .We had a guide in the village and we had a show that was good we came away with a good understanding of the culture and the geothermal geographics that were a large part of this Maori tribes culture on the way back we called at a kiwi orchard
Gerri_S, Feb 2026
Absolutely fabulous trip to the thermal village. It was a seamless transfer from the pier to our coach. Our driver, Richard, was a lot of fun and very knowledgeable. The village was fascinating, and our guide phenomenal. The lunch was delicious, and it was a bonus to see how the food was cooked in the traditional hangi style. We ended the day with a stop at a kiwi farm. Loved every minute of the day.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your very kind comments and we are so pleased that you had a great day with us, regards Ian
lindadiannesmith, Feb 2026
It was interesting to see how the village uses the thermal pools for cooking and bathing, etc. Enjoyed the singing and dancing presentation. Lunch was delicious! Jack, our young driver/guide for the tour, was very personable and engaging.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your very positive review, regards Ian
Caroline_S, Feb 2026
This was well worth the visit. Very interesting and informative and good fun. You should know that its about and hour and half drive from the port though. Driver was very knowledgeable and good fun.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your review, Pleased you had a great time on our tour, regards Ian
Iain_F, Feb 2026
The guide was excellent . Good knowledge and made the experience enjoyable and inclusive . A gem .
Proud people.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your review, we are pleased you had a great time on our tour, regards Ian
Barbara_K, Feb 2026
Guide was very knowledgeable and itinerary was good.
If I have to say 100 words I will not leave a review.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Short and sweet is fine for us, regards Ian
Pam_K, Feb 2026
It was a great tour with a nice lunch included. Richard was our driver and he was excellent. On the way back we stopped at a kiwi farm/ orchard as well as a quick stop at a redwood forest. It was a long day but very interesting and informative.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for the kind comments, we do try and fit as much in as we can into the standard 6.5 hour tour program. Regards Ian
Ratnam_K, Dec 2025
Richie our tour guide was very knowledgeable and as a retired teacher he kept us fully informed of Tauranga and Māori culture. We really enjoyed the tour.
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Thanks for the great review, Richie was actually a School Principal here in Tauranga and he certainly knows his history and culture. Regards ian
WILLIAM_D, Dec 2025
This was a wonderful trip to Maori village ,Redwood Forest and Rotorua.
Jack was a great guide , very informative and amusing
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Great to receive your review and glad to know you enjoyed your tour with our guide Jack. Regards Ian
Greg_B, Dec 2025
Perfect tour from start to finish. So great to be picked up and dropped off at cruise port. Saves so much hassle. We were on a small tour of 12 people. So much better than a cruise line tour of 60 or more people. This also made it possible for extended time at stops, like the Kiwi fruit orchard and the Redwood Plantation. Our tour guide was fantastic. Very knowledgeable and always able to answer questions on the way. The highlight, of course, was the visit to the Living Maori Village. Our tour guide there, was a young 19 year old Village chief, he was phenomenal. So passionate about his culture, and heritage, he made every aspect come to life. We will never be disappointed we booked this tour. As I said it was perfect and we loved it. PS. The Hangi Pie was very yummo!!!
Response from Host, Dec 2025
Thanks for your very kind comments about our tour to Rotorua, we love to have these smaller groups on tours as we can then show you more during the day at places the big coach tours the ship offers can not visit. Regards Ian
Kathy_W, Nov 2025
This tour was well worth it and Peter was an excellent guide. We really enjoyed the authentic Maori village with a tour guide and the cultural performance with the Haka. The village doesn't get any government money. The After the tour we had a lunch consisting of a meat pie made of Hangi cooked vegetables, a small piece of corn and a salad. It tasted good.
The pick up and drop off from the cruise ship was perfect. All the other sites we saw in Rotorua and Tauranga were interesting. We liked that there was a maximum of 20 people on the tour.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Thanks for the great review and pleased that you enjoyed trip. Regards Ian
Judith_A, Apr 2025
Great value for money -tour guide Brian extremely knowledgable friendly and polite
Lovely scenic route and stops on way
Fab experience of Māori life
Response from Host, Apr 2025
Brian will be very happy to hear that you enjoyed his tour, one of our most popular. Regards Ian
Kellie_B, Mar 2025
What a fabulous day out. Jack, our guide was Funny and excellent in his knowledge of all areas and the history of NZ and the local area. We enjoyed seeing Lake Rotorua, the Redwoods and the highlight was the cultural experience. A quick stop for kiwi fruit on the way back made for an adventurous and uplifting day.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Sounds like you had a great tour with us, thanks for your review.
DAVID_C, Mar 2025
We loved this tour! Hearing directly from our Maori tour guide about the history of his village as well as how the geothermal springs are used in his people’s way of life was fascinating. We went on quite a few tours during our visit to New Zealand & Australia but this was our favorite of them all.
We also enjoyed visiting a kiwi fruit orchard and sampling the delicious golden kiwi fruit. Thanks, Jack, for sharing your family farm with us.
Definitely recommend!
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thanks David, great to hear you had a good tour with Jack and he added in some nice extras. Regards ian
Henry_M, Mar 2025
This in my opinion is a must tour. It was by far the best day and excursion we took during our 2 week cruise. Jack our driver was outstanding. So much knowledge and fun to be with. The village was amazing. The drive was a little long to get to the village but well worth it. Great people with so much history. I highly recommend this tour you won’t regret it.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thanks for your great review and so pleased Jack gave you a great tour, he only started with us in January but is certainly doing a great job. Sorry about the distance to the village, we have to stick to the speed limits which for a minibus is less than a car, so its around 75 - 80 minutes each way, if it took any less we would not actually reach the village. For next year we will see if we can get it moved to be a little closer to the port. Regards Ian
Christy_F, Feb 2025
It was a great tour and very informative about the Māori culture. The drive to and from our ship offered beautiful views and the driver was friendly and full of information.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thanks for your very positive review, regards Ian
Diane_L, Feb 2025
We had a great guide and loved learning about the Maori people. Went to their little village of 70 people also age a tasty lunch.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thanks Diane, pleased you enjoyed the tour with us, regards Ian
Stephen_W, Feb 2025
Our tour operator Charlie was great took us around to many fascinating places.
Especially the village to see the culture as it was and is hope you don't mind the smell of sulphur though 😉.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Pleased you enjoyed the tour with Charlie, you do get used to the aroma of Rotorua after a few hours we find. Regards Ian
Monica_J, Feb 2025
This was a wonderful tour, a long drive to the village but well worth it. Jack was full of information about the area and fun to be with. Excellent driver as well.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thanks for your kind comments. Pleased you enjoyed the tour with our latest tour guide recruit Jack, he will be pleased to receive the feedback. Regards Ian
Henry_A, Jan 2025
This was a great tour! We truly enjoyed seeing all of the geysers and the show was terrific. Our guide through the village was an older Māori guide and was very informative about the people. Our lunch was very good. It has been our best tour so far.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thanks for your very positive review, pleased you had a good time. Regards Ian
From $171.38
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