Rotorua Highlights Tour: Waiotapu, Te Puia & Lunch From Auckland

Really nice experience to do for those who want to discover a little bit of New Zealand with little time available. Trent, the guide was immediately very kind and helpful (top!). Snacks and water on board; explanations about the various spots along the way. Comfortable shuttle. The burger was well cooked and tasty. Amazing landscape! All good. A small suggestion: I would have been willing to pay extra for a small taste of Maori traditional cuisine for lunch. :-)

Tour guide exceptional - knowledgeable, friendly, engaged with all guests on the tour. He made the tour memorable and follow up with links to where to eat, shop and see more sights. Would recommend this tour company

My wife and I booked with the Cheeky Kiwi operator. They provide the coach, book the tickets at the sites and the driver provides the commentary to and from the sites. So, the review is half about the operator and half about the actual sites. Our driver was guy called Grant. Any driver is in an unenviable position. He needs to keep the customers amused for three or four hours each way, and also know when to shut up and give them a bit of peace and quiet. We got on the coach at 5:45am, and I would have been happier if he just said "folks, I'm going to collect all of us from the various hotels; we'll head off and stop after an hour at a _really_ good coffee place; and after that I'll start telling you about what you're going to see today". However, he felt obliged to talk almost without stop all the way. I suppose it doesn't matter who the operator is - they all have the same balancing act to navigate. LUCKILY, Grant knew about geothermal activities, calderas, the relative size of Rotarua and Lake Taupo etc, and was very interesting to listen to. So, a thumbs up to him. Two sites on this trip. The first was the Rotarua geothermal are withmud-pool, lakes, steam emerging from the ground and streams etc. This site had everything except geysers. There are several walks, and even this 71-year old could manage them. For the geysers, we went to the second site. The geysers at Te Puia were MOST impressive. Lots of steam under pressure. I could have stood and watched them all day. The site also has a Maori cultural centre. That sounded terribly worthy and boring, but it wasn’t. We got to see a couple of kiwi birds - part of a breeding program - and we also got to see Maori youth being trained in the old skills of wood-carving, and similar. Not as entrancing as the geysers, but interesting in their own right. Overall, this Cheeky Kiwi Rotarua excursion was the highlight of our visit to NZ, and I really recommend you go and see the place. Five stars from us.

Liam was the best tour guide for this trip. Highly recommend this trip for anyone interested in Maori culture

Good walking shoes and small light backpack or crossbody is best. Easy access to your camera a must. Ample stops for bathroom, snacks/food. Cheeky Pearl is an awesome driver/guide!!

An awesome experience! A long day but so worth it! More than a “geothermal experience.” Depth of culture. And Jeoffrey was great. Informative. It was great to arrive at the first stop before the rest of the buses!

Seeing the Geyser, Mud pools and Champagne pool were just some of the awesome and memeroble highlights of my tour. Special mention must go out to our Cheeky Kiwi tour guide and driver, Jeoff whose in-depth knowledge of Auckland and our destinations, interspersed with his subtle humour really helped to relax and amalgamate the tour group. Overall the combination of all the aforementioned made for a truly unforgetable experience.

We had Geoff as our driver/guide. Highly organized and informative - we had several in our van with different itineraries and he managed schedule artfully. Very comfortable van and enjoyed others that we met in our group. We will definitely use this tour company again

This tour was great! John was an excellent tour guide, very knowledgeable and with many funny stories! The activities were enjoyable and I felt like I also learned a lot. I really enjoyed the day! I especially enjoyed seeing the live kiwis at Te Puia’s kiwi conservation center.

Ben was great, very enthusiastic and I loved his NZ music playlist. The trip was well organized and everything ran accordingly. Just show up and they take care of the rest

Our family had an incredible experience on our day trip to Rotorua. Our guide, Simon, was exceptionally knowledgeable, kind, and made the entire day truly special. He was also a fantastic driver, which made the experience feel smooth from start to finish. He thoughtfully timed our visits so we arrived at Waiotapu and Te Puia before the crowds, which made a huge difference. The van was very comfortable and perfect for the full day of exploring. Our group was also a lot of fun, and everyone contributed to such a positive, enjoyable vibe. We had an amazing time and can’t recommend this tour and especially Simon, enough!

After doing the 'wild west' tour with Aled, it was great to have him again for the full day tour of Rotorua. Aled is engaging, knowledgeable and great company. He is born to be a tour guide. I selected to do the Rotorua Highlights tour including Wai-O-Tapu & Polynesian Spa. We got to Rotorua and saw Lady Knox Geyser bubble and shoot up. Next the amazing Wai-O-Tapu. I was worried about walking it all with my bad back, but I was fine and worth it. Next was the Polynesian Spa. It was really relaxing. But remember to drink plenty of water because I probably didn't and gave myself a migraine. Thankfully Aled was really understanding and stopped when I needed to stop and I got over it. Overall, a spectacular day (except for the migraine!).

It was an amazing experience. Shoutout to John, he took good care of us. And i had the nicest group. The tour went smoothly as expected. Will definitely recommend this.

It was an informative, cultural, and all-encompassing trip. I selected the Wai-O-Tapu and Te Puia option and I’m so glad I did. I’ve seen some of the most beautiful natural formations and got to look into Māori culture and learn new things about it. Our tour guide, John, also made the trip more memorable by his fun personality. He is very educational and communicative, and made everyone feel included. He shared a lot of interesting and funny stories/facts during the drive. I would 100% recommend this trip to anyone who is in NZ and would like to make the most out of it in one day.

John made this tour special, awesome energy and great conversations. Wai-O-Tapu self guided tour allowed freedom to explore at one's pace. Optional add ons are well coordinated. Overall a relaxed tour.

This is a fast and furious day from Auckland to Rotorua and back which is just what I wanted. Faced with not much time, I had to make decisions as to what I wanted to see and what I could skip and this tour was perfect. I opted for the Wai-o-Tapu and Te Puia segments. The tour is essentially your transportation and travel agent for the day; the guide makes sure you get to where you need to go in a timely manner. When you get to your "excursions" the guide may hang around or make their way to pick up/drop off another part of your small group. For my excursions, I joined a timed tour or walked around the area as a self-guide. Wai-O-Tapu was a MUST DO! There were surprises around every corner.

Very rushed. Only got to spend an hour at the warm pools. Majority of the day was spent just traveling in the van.

It is always amazing to see what nature has to offer on the other side of the world!!! Definitely worth going and seeing. Just be aware most of your day is going to be spen in a car travelling. Our group was a bit rushed at some of the tour events but that is understandable as people were doing different activities. Wai-O-Tapu is worth the trip itself :) Our driver/guide Dean was terrific. He had a lot of knowledge and his management skills of keeping everyone informed were great!!

The trip was very well organised from pickup to drop off on time as planned. The transport was comfortable with snacks and water available. The guide Honuz was very friendly giving us history of local attractions on the road. He took very well managed breaks which made the long drive pass smoothly and everyone had the chance to eat and be energised.

Simon is an amazing guide. Friendly, funny, informative. Wai O Tapu is beautiful and a nice light walk. Highly recommend the secret spot hot tub add-on as well.

I had a lovely day with our Tour guide Grant and the other participants. Grant told us interesting facts about New Sealand on the way to and back from Rotorua. I can lovely recommend to do a tour with Cheeky Kiwi Travel :) Cheers

Superb tour from reservation right through to drop off. I wasn’t too sure about taking a tour and particularly such a long one. Our guide, Hanoz, was fabulous. He coordinated us all with the skills of a highly accomplished project manager, ensuring we all had our activities selected, explained to each of us how long our activity would be etc. Herded us skillfully from drop-offs to pick-ups across town and at various times from each of our activity locations seamlessly! He did a great job of engaging us all on the bus, explained many interesting facts about where we would be visiting. Plenty of stops to and from to ensure everyone’s comfort. He was good natured and humorous for what must have been a very long day for him. The various activities were all superb. Everyone was delighted with what they’d chosen and it was marvelous to be able to fit in such an array of activities in one day. Fantastic job by Hanoz and Cheeky Kiwi.

I just wanted to give a shoutout to my awesome tour guide, John! He made the trip to Rotorua unforgettable with his great knowledge and fun stories. The views were stunning, and the extra stops he added along the way to Wai-o-Tapu were a nice surprise. We even made it in time for the lady knox geyser show (not in the itinerary), which was perfect! Plus, those quick photo breaks were a blast. At the end of the day, John was super thoughtful and dropped us off wee bit away from our pick up location to keep us dry from the rain. Overall, this tour was definitely a highlight of my New Zealand trip—thanks, John!

I had a great day, this tour is really worth it, I got an eyeful! Our guide took good care of us and was very receptive to our questions. Fully recommended!

The trip to Wai-O-Tapu and Te Puia was fantastic, we had an amazing tour experience. Rotorua is breathtaking, as always, a must-see for anyone visiting New Zealand. Our tour guide was very informative, attentive, and had a good sense of humour. We had a good conversation with him along the way, and the group learned a great deal about the history and culture of New Zealand, so the drive to the destination was never boring. Overall, the tour was very enjoyable, kudos to the team at Cheeky Kiwi Travel. Would highly recommend anyone to try out this trip, you won't be disappointed.

I appreciated our guide John because he drove safely and was nice to everyone whether he received a tip from them or not. I also appreciated the Te Puia part because the geyser erupted at the right time and our guide there was super funny. Wai-o-Tapu was photogenic and you can actually walk very close to sulfur infused water.

The trip to Rotorua with Wai-o-Tapu was great. Our guide Alessandro was awesome, very knowledgeable and helpful. Highly recommended.

Te Puia and Wai-O-Tapu was spectacular but the experience was made more fun and memorable by our friendly and knowledgeable guide, Michael! I had a great walk with him at Wai-O-Tapu as he shared interesting facts and took really good photos. The drive to and from Auckland seemed quick as he shared a lot of information and engaged us in conversations. Thus, I ended up booking another tour with them for my Queenstown trip! Thank you very much Michael and Cheeky Kiwi for making my first ever tour in NZL fun!

We did a lot of tours on our recent trip to New Zealand, and had a lot of tour guides, but none like Alessandro. He really made everyone feel a part of the tour and was very knowledgeable about the surrounding areas and the locations we stopped at. I definitely recommend Cheeky Kiwi Travel & Alessandro.

John was a great guide! He prepared fun activities for the group that made the long drive worth it. Rotorua is a beautiful city and our family enjoyed Te Puia with the Maori cultural highlights and show plus the short hike through Wai O Tapu. I would recommend this for families looking to do a short drive out of the city.

My experience with the Rotorua Highlights Small Group Tour, which included Wai-O-Tapu from Auckland and was operated by Cheeky Kivi Travel, was fantastic and exceeded my expectations. I chose to visit Wai-O-Tapu and take a redwood walk; both attractions turned out to be fascinating experiences. My special thank you to Michael, our guide and driver, for being very kind, caring for our needs, providing us with new information, and sharing his knowledge and experiences. I highly recommend this tour.

Do not miss the opportunity to see Rotorua and its geothermal wonders, Wai- O- Tapu and Te Puia! Our guide, Grant, was amazing! He was friendly, courteous, accomodating, and thoroughly knowledgeable, sharing many interesting facts and stories during our journey. He went above and beyond organizing and accommodating our individually selected itineraries for the area. I highly recommend Cheeky Kiwi Travel for this experience.

The trip to Wai-O-Tapu and Te Puie were fantastic. The geothermal wonderlands were stunning, so if you get the chance go! And go with Cheeky Kiwi Travel. Cam our guide was superb - knowledgeable and informative, with a touch of humour.

What keeps this from being a 5 star experience is the fact that the Rotorua Museum (On Viator - "take in the sights of Rotorua on a coach tour with stops along the way ... Stop at key points in Rotorua ... guided driving tour seeing the most famous sites in Rotorua city including: Lake Rotorua, Rotorua Museum, Government Gardens, Whangapipiro (Rachel Spring) & the Blue Baths) is closed due to safety concerns about its ability to withstand earthquakes, as are several other buildings. Now technically, the verbiage does not say one gets to visit the museum (or any of the other sites), but one might get that impression. Indeed, the museum grounds are mostly fenced off. The Wai-O-Tapu part of the tour was quite nice. However, we are old and move slowly, so we could not take in the full path around the features in the time provided. More time there would have been MUCH BETTER than the time spent on driving by the closed buildings in Rotorua.

Really nice tour! I enjoyed a lot! The your guy was amazing ☺️ The Rotoura experience was really nice and all the spots the tour guy recommended us were amazing

This was a fascinating trip. We had time to walk around each stop with our guide as well as some free time in Rotorua. Our guide shared local history along the way, so the drive was very enjoyable. We even had an opportunity to stop at Tepuia for lunch and their lovely gift shop.

This was the third tour we’ve taken while in New Zealand, first from Cheeky Kiwi and it was the best one so far. We had John as our driver and he was amazing, entertaining and considerate of everyone on the tour. safe driving, good knowledge of NZ and its history and current comings. I really appreciated the personalization he added into our tour and conversations. He even made a group chat with everyone on WhatsApp to send info and pictures he took throughout the day. Hands down the best tour guide company you could go with and thanks again John for everything :))

Every place visited during this tour is a must see. Any traveller's experience of New Zealand North Island won't be complete without Rotorua.

I can’t say enough about the WONDERFUL DAY you exposed me to. Brendon ,our guide was the best. It’s nice to have a guide who loves what they do. He called the night before to check on me. It was the first Viator I had booked so was nervous about if they would even show up. Cheeky kiwi tours are GREAT. Nice clean vans, great sound system. I would highly recommend both the company and ask for Brendon, we all wanted to adopt him. ( I am sure cheeky tours have hired all like minded guides,lol) he even suggested eateries in Auckland that I tried out and they were very good.i have booked 5 other tours with Viator for this cruise. I can’t wait. 10 stars . 5 is not enough. Thank you.

We had an amazing tour! Our guide was Brandon and his punctuality, professionalism, informativeness was exemplary. Rotorua is a must-see destination, a surreal experience!

Grant was an excellent guide. He went out of his way to make sure we all could do the activities that we wanted. The 2 geological parks were great. Would definitely recommend them both.

What a great day out to see the sights of New Zealand. Alessandro, our tour guide was fantastic throughout and set the tone for a great day right from the get-go. The landscape was beautiful and there was flexibility to choose what activities we wanted to participate in during the tour.

The tour to both places were very well organized. At Hobbiton walking was a bit more but there is no other alternative. At Wattoomo glow cave was an experience of life time. Our guide was brilliant, very helping keep us entertained with nice jokes. Highly recommend but be prepared for some walking.j Thanks

What a lovely day! Cameron was an amazing guide who told us a lot about NZ . Super comfi ride, clear agreements and such an insanely beautiful destination! I'd definitely recommend this!

Excellent tour. Our guide for the day was John who made the trip what it was. Knowledgeable and entertaining throughout the day. A fun day had by all.

This tour was incredible. I truly enjoyed and liked every moment of it. The tour guide John is such an amazing person. He has great humor and was also very attentive with everybody in the group. The sights/sites are really breathtaking everywhere during this tour. Highly recommand!

This long day was made short by Michael's "cheeky" commentary during which he made a point of providing information of particular interest to group members. He had the tricky job of dropping people off at different spots, picking them up on time, and making this all run on time, and it all ran on time. Impressive. More importantly, he was ready to have a chat and a joke which made us feel comfortable. Thank you.

It was a great experience and the driver was amazing, he ensured we had water and food the entire trip. Would definitely recommend to people.

The tour was fantastic, John was very patient and kind. I enjoyed the trip. It was a lovely journey with the group on board.