Bioluminescence Kayak Tour - Est. 1994

I got duped with this tour. They state a 2-hour night paddle, but it was only an hour, we spent a lot of time on the beach doing things at a slow pace including the pre and post work. It was also not a small group tour or 1 guide to 6 guests as I expected; that is how many guides and guests there were but we were kind of all just bundled together with other guides and guests and sort of free-ranged when on the water, it was a little haphazard. I read the moon-reviews and took my chances anyway with regret, it was near full and we could barely see the plankton, also based on other reviews I expect some justification but prefer an apology and accountability for ripping people off knowing better. Lastly, I know a thing or two about marine biology and claiming multiple types of bioluminescence is wrong when it was the same thing in varied circumstances and interactions. Sorry folk but you should know better having been 'established since 1994'.

This was the thing I was most excited to do in Auckland. I was traveling alone and didn't quite know what to expect. The location for the kayaking might change depending on where the bioluminescence is supposed to be the strongest on a given night, the night that I went it was a bit of a drive from downtown Auckland. But I took an Uber and was able to get one back again. The meeting point was as They said in the e-mail confirmation and easy to find. I was the only one that was traveling solo. The other people were with groups and I was matched up with one group and one guide. I had gone kayaking before but they gave instructions for those who had not. It was a wonderful experience. The guide apologized many times because he felt that the bioluminescence was not as strong as it sometimes is but for me, it was great. I had never seen anything like it before and it was magical. Plus just kayaking around at night was also something I hadn't done and I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this tour.

If you ever get the chance to experience the bioluminescent waters off Auckland’s North Shore—take it. And if you can do it with Canoe & Kayak Adventures, even better. What made this night truly unforgettable wasn’t just the surreal glow lighting up every paddle stroke—it was Paul and Matt. These two didn’t just guide a tour; they elevated the entire experience into something that felt personal, effortless, and genuinely special. From the moment we arrived at Waiake Beach, their energy was calm, welcoming, and quietly confident—the kind that instantly makes you feel like you’re in the best hands possible. Out on the water, they struck that rare balance: giving us space to soak in the magic while also sharing just enough insight, stories, and humor to deepen the moment without ever overwhelming it. Every question was met with enthusiasm, every detail handled seamlessly, and every guest made to feel like part of something unique. And then there was the bioluminescence itself—like paddling through a sky full of stars that had somehow slipped into the ocean. Every movement created this glowing ripple, and somehow, Paul and Matt made sure we experienced it in the most immersive, unhurried way possible. This wasn’t just a tour. It was one of those rare experiences that stays with you—equal parts awe, peace, and quiet excitement. Massive thanks to Paul for turning a beautiful natural phenomenon into something truly unforgettable. If you’re even thinking about it—just go. And hope you get these two legends as your guides.

I'm not sure what your justification will be for yet another bad moon experience after reading many of the others complaining about the same issue. This was the only date we could do it with the other company unavailable so we gave it a go anyway, with regret. The moon was indeed big and bright, the water shines so much and you can barely see specks. Unless you guys can take us into caves or something i'm not sure how rafting us up to make shadows helps a bad situation when you are mostly thinking about being wet, cold and mostly unsatisfied.

I was reluctant again because I already try this last season, but my friends make me try one more. Still no improvement. Once a mistake, twice a coincidence...I won't be back third time

Amazing experience! A must do! Seeing the big blue was just ocean magic! Purple team was a vibe on Saturday night and I can’t thank Keith enough for being the best tour guide! His leadership, kindness, knowledge on EVERYTHING. Was truly mind blowing and learnt so much from you. Also thank you to Jane who I paired up with she was a blessing to me. Thank you Keith for making this experience the most memorable 🫶🏼 Purple 5 signing out 💜

A very well organised and safety conscious activity. Great, friendly and experienced guides. The group max of 6 is the perfect number out on the water. I would recommend going to anyone who has never experienced kayaking in the dark. A really great gift idea (we took 2 kids for their 16th birthday).

We saw the bioluminescence! It was amazing! Beautiful sky also. Great night!

It was an incredible night! Josh was super cool and had all sorts of tricks that really helped us see more blue! The stars were out in full view as well. Seriously couldn't have asked for better. Make sure you bring shoes you don't mind getting wet though, and please read the instructions on the email! 🙂

It was a fantastic night paddle conducted by a well-organised and friendly crew. We felt in absolutely safe hands! We went with our pre-teenage grand children, and they found it very exciting. Even for us locals it was awesome to be out on the water in front of Long Bay/Torbay in the dark, enjoying the bioluminescence as well as the night sky.

Only nice thing on our tour was the moon, but that's not what we paid for and it made for poor viewing so the guides tried to get us to bunch up to make dark shadows so we could only just see it in the water with some sparse sparkles

I’d give it five stars but there wasn’t enough info about gear for when I was packing. 1. You don’t need to be super fit, if you can sit on a low bench and get back up, you are good, 2. You will get wet and a bit muddy, you can still get an uber (they give you a garbage bag to sit on), 3. Plastic slides, crocs, water shoes are a must, 4. Clothes that dry quick are best. Other than that, you will stay in the estuary and not go out to sea, there are zero scary wildlife situations, 5. The guides are lovely and the water is spectacular.

The tour was not what we expected. You went on a small canal and had to find where there was bioluminescence areas and it only lit up when you activated with a paddle or your hand. All the kayaks are doubles which we also were not crazy about. Prepare to get very wet. The guides were very nice but we really thought we go into an area that water was luminous There are no photos while you are doing this

Great night kayak. Paul and company were excellent guides. Passionate about their ecosystem and very knowledgeable. By chance, it happened be the blood orange moon night. Although bright, we gathered up our kayaks near one another, created some dark space and found the bioluminescence by dipping our hands into the water. Wear layers it was cool, and expect to get wet. Enjoy!

We booked this thinking it would be "private and luxury", see image. It was neither private nor luxury. We were with a large group, the kayaks were uncomfortable and we got very wet. Furthermore, the description states: "No experience, no problem: Learn how to kayak from your guides", we had not much more than a few minutes on the beach how to hold a paddle and in the dark...this is not learning how to kayak! Worse again, it was windy, the moon was bright and we didn't see any of the bioluminescence.

Not sure why this company is rated so much lower than the other provider operating in the same waters. The staff were extremely friendly and professional, and the kayaking was a beautiful experience. You should know that you're unlikely to see the "big blue" bio displayed in some of the photos. However, you will see a subtler form of bio that resembles twinkling stars in the ocean water — not as magical, but still cool. We went on a pretty dark night (no full moon), and I can see why others have mentioned that the light of the moon can disrupt your ability to see the bioluminescence. Worth keeping in mind as you book your tour dates.

Sparse spectacles and a poor misunderstanding of what is actually called dinoflagellates. Our guides told us we saw many types of bioluminescence: "big blue", "lightning", "reef bio" etc. but this is the same stuff in different contexts or uses. We didn't see much, maybe a 1 out of 10 rating with a few blue breadcrumbs I would call them. Your main page hero image is also of a stock image from a beach in the Maldives, try not to deceive people.

Nice tour except not a good night to see. Long way to uber there. Luckily got a ride back with a lady from the group

This was a great experience! Our guides were extremely knowledgeable on the context regarding the bioluminescence and made it a fun tour filled with information.

Our original date was cancelled due to rough weather. The customer service was excellent and we were given a chance to change dates or full refund. Our new date was perfect as we saw a lot of beautiful bioluminecence in different shapes. The night was absolutely magical! Staff was welcoming and helpful and there was sufficient amount of staff to make the experience personal. The location details were given on the day of the tour and it was easy to reach with Uber. You do get wet, so be prepared. If there is a negative thing, it would be that I didn't get any usable photos. I had my phone (camera) in a protective waterproof bag and it didn't work as desired for the photos.

Managed to get a discount trip through bookme. Nice and easy to get too as we were camping in the regional park they launched from that day (I messaged beforeto confirm details). Great communication from the sun team, friendly guides. We saw various forms of the bioluminescence from 'sparklers' to galaxy and the ultimate kind 'big blue' (though it would have been cooler to see more of that it was very cool anyway). Trip was as expected about 2 hours of gentle paddling. NOTE, it's very hard to capture the bioluminescence on a camera phone

My friends and I were out in Jan. during what was a lovely moon in the sky but it was bright, huge and near full which made the red algae very poor. I recommend to you guys not running tours if all the other bad reviews you are getting on the same topic are bad, sorry but here's another feeling ripped off.

DO NOT go with this company. I booked through Get Your Gyde, gave them a similar bad review, and they had the review removed despite being a genuine booking and genuinely participating. This is manipulative behaviour on your behalf and unprofessional of GYG to allow this. As I wrote in my other review: I did not feel safe when the guides turned our lights off and didn't enjoy being wet the whole time due to the type of kayaks you use.

Was so amazing and fun, the guides were incredibly nice and knew so much about the topic! Would highly recommend doing this worth every dollar!

Not happy, I went out around the period of what was called the cold moon full moon. Moonlight was so bright you couldn't really see anything but moonlight reflections. I did research on many blogs, news and social media groups all saying the same thing that moonlight affects the bio-lights viewing. Why scam people knowing this?

I book this experience because of photo and no sparkle on the beach. Moon very bright, make difficult to see anything guide say. Why do this like that? People nice, tour not good.

An amazing experience! With lots of memories and laughter to remember! I believe we were so lucky to experience that nught. The waves breaking were lighting up and was magnificent. The guides were so good. We are semi local, Wellington, and the rest of the group were visiting from over seas. The guides were so patient and never minded if they needed to repeat. They dealt with my unmedicated adhd self 😂 Thanks so much From purple 3 and 4

I wasn't so happy aside from the "big Blue" they called it. The bioluminesssence was good but the overall tour not much and it was short like we were on and off in about an hour or just over an hour

A must try experience. Very magical and spectacular - ocean waves, the sparkly water, kayak, moon and coniferous trees.. The guides are friendly.

We had a wonderful experience on this tour. We were given clear directions on the day of the tour of where to meet later that evening. They were very organized when we arrived and got everyone set and ready to go. The guides were awesome ensuring not only that we were all safe, but that we were all comfortable and having a good time. We were very lucky as we had unknowingly booked our tour on a new moon, so the darkness combined with the abundance of bioluminescence on that particular night made for an experience that we will never forget.

I had a poor experience of bad communication and as an older person I found the kayaks to be sub-par getting wet and being small and uncomfortable. The conditions were not good and the algae was few and far between

My friends and I had a great time. Our kayak guide Keith was very knowledgeable and friendly. And then, of course, seeing the big blue bioluminescence was incredible.

One of the best experiences I've had in my life. The effect of the lights was really magical. And the guides are excellent.

Eeeeek! How do I explain, it was MAGIC. We had a great guide with a sense of humour and professionalism. There was a moment of “how is this real??!!” Under the stars. Thank you so much.

Such a cool experience! The guides were awesome and knowledgeable. The darkness really made for a fun adventure. And the big blue bioluminescence was a sight to see

This is a kayak tour, meaning you and another guest are paddling the kayak you are in. If you’ve never been kayaking please note that. This was a lot of work. The beauty is worth it. But in the beginning it does feel like you aren’t seeing what you thought you would. Just be patient it will come. The darker it gets the better. It was hard for me to get a good video but I have friends who got much better ones (probably user error, mostly). It’s definitely worth the price. Just be ready to paddle. Oh and be prepared to get wet! Should be obvious, I know. But…

nothing short of amazing!! 100/10 stars! we got lucky and saw a lot. we did end up going in a bigger group (12 and sometimes 24 when combined with the other group) but there were plenty of instructors who were really helpful and always checked up on you. paid a bit over $100nzd and the whole experience was 2 hours long (which included briefings and checkins. maybe around 1 full hour further out in the water hunting and playing with the plankton). shoutout to Sarah for being an amazing one!

0 stars if I could. Poor communication on meeting locations. We saw only specks of algae, it was windy, cold and wet. It was not a 1:6 ratio as stated, we were one large group of about 5 guides and 25 customers

My friend and I waited to book a bioluminescent kayak tour due to uncertainty of the weather and how tired we would be after traveling from the States. We were bummed to see that everything was booked, but we called Canoe & Kayak Adventures to see if they had an opening. They initially did not, but they offered to see if they could bring another guide in. They delivered, and we were delighted! The tour was incredible. There was a bright supermoon, and we knew going in that the plankton would be harder to see on such a bright night. However, it was also Guy Fawkes, so there was a good chance we'd see fireworks and would have a blast either way. The guides were lovely, and it was so much fun. Despite the bright moonlight, the plankton put on a show for us. We were shrieking with delight the whole time. I am so, so grateful that they went above and beyond for us to get to do this. Highly recommend :)

We lucked out during the full moon and it was a supermoon event. We barely saw specks of the blue fish. The guides were friendly but tried to cover up the experience with how lovely the moon is, sorry but we paid for the bio lights not gods big head torch

This was a truly unique and wonderful experience! Josh and Elena showed us many areas of bioluminescence and were very kind and patient. Just the right amount of time to get our fill of this beautiful phenomenon. Highly recommend!!

A fantastic way to spend a Saturday evening on a calm sea and beautiful moonless night. Josh was an excellent tour guide. A delightful Australian couple from Adelaide and a young traveller from Colorado marvelled at their experience. Josh knew where to find the luminescence and enlightened us about the various Bioluminescence.

The guides, Caitlin and Sarah, were exceedingly friendly and helpful on this tour. We saw a lot of bioluminescence and the weather was peaceful. I got very inspired during the tour :)

Such magical experience our family had so much fun. Our guides Caitlin and Sarah were friendly, knowledgeable and took great care to ensure we are safe. Highly recommend it.

A very cool experience. The bioluminescence was so bright and beautiful and it was so peaceful to paddle around on a still evening. The staff were great, laid back but also helpful and I felt well looked after and safe. I liked that they let us enjoy ourselves and the tour wasn’t overly directed. The hot water bottles for inside the kayak was a nice touch for winter too! Would highly recommend as a unique fun activity to do in a beautiful location.

It was incredible. We were really lucky to have a clear night but either way the experience would have been awesome. A really friendly team and so knowledgeable .I had never seen the magical blue bioluminescence before I was blown away. And the added bonus of an open fire and hotdogs afterwards. I would highly recommend.

Safe, fun, interesting magical experience! It was something out of my dreams! Imagine paddling down an absolutely still water creek, reflecting the trees and stars like a mirror. You hear an owl hooting quietly in the distance, then your tour guide directs you to the mangroves along the edge where the water softly glows with bio. As you quietly paddle away, you notice the ripples from your paddle glow and sparkle. Just beautiful! Paul, our tour guide, was knowledgeable and fun! We saw 4 kinds of bio! Peter was great to work with as weather demanded a change of time.

I went on this tour in May and it was miserably cold and the glowing sparkles were not visible, likely due to the cold and the Moon was very bright. Not recommended at least not in colder months or when moon is in the sky

We had a lovely time with Santiago..he took the time to explain the kayaking specifics to those of us who were new to it and guided us along the tour as well..he always made sure that our group was together and safe... We came across some great patches of different bioluminescence.. He even took time to show us which planets were which (it was a pretty clear evening).. had a lot of fun!!