Te Puia Tour, Haka Show & Lunch Small Group Tour From Auckland

My family and I were interested in learning about Māori culture and this tour provided the perfect experience! Rawiri, right from pick up felt more of a friend than our guide. We learned so much about Maori culture from him… he provided lots of tips about what to see, places to visit and foods to try while in NZ. Even though it was a long day, it was worth the trip to Rotorua and the blue springs.

It was a very lively trip.we had plenty of time to experience and enjoy the places.Our guide was friendly and made it very interesting

Alexandro did a great job transporting us and we had a great tour of Rotorua.

Amazing Māori tour in Auckland—authentic, welcoming, and full of powerful stories. Our guide shared the culture with so much heart and knowledge that it felt like a privilege to be part of it. I learned so much and left feeling more connected to the land and its history.

The bus trip to Rotorua was very interesting with Cam giving us commentaries of interesting places and landmarks.

Ben is simply the best! His knowledge of cultural and historical sites, as well as his personal experi nice and places he chose to share with us are truly special and unique; worthy of epic vacation legend. He was prompt, courteous, and safe. He built a group of strangers into friends!

Brought here as part of our NZ tour. This is an amazing place, kiwi sanctuary, university, geysers, cafe, cultural experiences, crafting. Excellent place to visit to get an overview of the Maori culture and passing it on to the next generation as well as explaining it to those of us not from NZ. The Maori greeting ceremony was amazing and gave us all a greater understanding of the meaning of the sounds and moves. Geysers were a sight to behold. I really enjoyed the tour of the crafting centre and the young people involved in maintaining the skills. An excellent facility!

Really enjoyed seeing the mud pools and the geysers, and Maori performance was fun. Buffet was billed as traditional Maori meal but seemed pretty generic - fine but nothing particularly memorable. Ended up paying extra to add the tree walk as otherwise there would have been two hours of down time just waiting for the bus to come back to get us. Not sure if the other options would have been preferable but happy with what we did.

The tour was everything I expected and more! Alessandro was awesome and very knowledgeable about everything! I highly recommend booking this tour and perhaps request Alessandro to be your guide, best tour guide to we’ve ever had.

Sunday, December 7, 2025 - Rotorua Day Tour inc. Te Puia Tour, Lunch & Cultural Show Cheeky Kiwi Travel has a great adventure for you to see the Te Puia Tour, Cultural Show & Buffet Lunch and the Redwoods Tree walk. On Sunday, December 7, 2025, I had the best time with Cheeky Kiwi Travel and Dave that helped us to have a great day at these attractions. The day started with an early pickup at our hotel in a well-appointed van with leather seats. Although the trip out to the Te Puia Tour, Cultural Show & Buffet Lunch is approximately 3 hours, the trip there is broken up with a rest room stop and a chance to grab a snack. Our first stop on the trip was at Royal Coffee. This has a great selection of breakfast treats, but more importantly it is a chance to use the rest room. Don’t pass up the treats and full-service rest room. Back in the van and before you know it you will arrive at the Te Puia Tour, Cultural Show & Buffet Lunch. This location also has several hot springs and geyser’s to see as well. The tour starts off with a quick video of the significance of the culture. From there, you begin a walking tour through the grounds. Please note, this area does not have a lot of shade, therefore you need to have your hat, sunscreen and water to get through the walk. For approximately an hour, a cultural center guide will take you through the campus to point out the hot springs and other significant views. When this has completed you will return to the courtyard for the cultural show. The cultural show will recreate the meeting of two tribes and culminates with a musical interlude in the tribe sanctuary. When the ceremony is complete, it is off to lunch. If you were smart enough and booked your lunch with Cheeky Kiwi Travel, you will head to the restaurant and give them your name or it may be under the Cheeky Kiwi Travel company name. It is best to check with your Cheeky Kiwi Travel guide as to what name your lunch will be on. The lunch is a great buffet lunch with a lot of deserts. After your lunch, Cheeky Kiwi Travel will transport you to the Redwoods Forest. This is a great catwalk above the trees that takes approximately 20 minutes, that is unless it has a lot of traffic. The catwalk is a serial activity and minimizes the number of people on the catwalk or platform at one time. If were able to speed through the catwalk, then you can do a quick 20–30-minute walk on the red trail through the Redwoods. This is a great chance to see the Redwood trees up close. Booking the tour with Cheeky Travel was a great way to see both events. After you book with Viator, coordinating with Cheeky Travel is easy if you have What’s App, but don’t worry if you do not, they can use other methods to work with you. If you do book the Te Puia Tour, Cultural Show & Buffet Lunch, make sure you have coordinated another event with Cheeky Kiwi Travel as the show is not an all-day adventure. Cheeky Kiwi can help you determine the other attraction to add to your day. On the way home, Cheeky Kiwi once again keeps your comfortable with a rest room stop and a chance to buy some ice cream! Don’t miss the chance to hit the rest room first and then get the Hokey Pokey ice cream in a cup so you can eat it in the van on the way home. Not only that, if time permits you will get to see an incredibly naturally clean river with clear blue water! Thanks to Dave at Cheeky Kiwi Travel, we got to see two great New Zealand attractions in a comfortable way with great food!

Simone was excellent! The show was amazing and the buffet lunch was delicious! The views were breathtaking.

John was a knowledgeable tour guide who also had a good sense of humor! It was a whole day tour, we learned about Maori culture, thermal geyser. The Maori art center and the cultural show are very informative. Highly recommend this tour!

We can guarantee that anyone can blindly select this tour. The coordination, caring and special attention from the guide and from the agent is remarkable. S special thanks for this travel agent for the below - We are a frequent traveler and we have experienced that guides and driver beg for tips / gratitude. We have started our travel since 2008 and surprisingly noticed that until now approximately $5000 (Five Thousand US Dollar) had been given out as tips arrival from the airport till the departure tip, tips, tips... In between all the journey the guides will remind us 3-4 times regarding tips and we have stopped giving tips. The irony is that we don't give tips to the air pilot and cabin crew for their service but on ground the story is different... here this travel agent is very unique their guides or drivers do not utter a word related to tips or at least they don't hint any words about tips - They are very gentle, polite and hardworking they share all their knowledge to you.. give you personal attention, caring and love.... perfect and confident driving vehicles are very clean, provide you bottles of water snacks etc... Some guides we have experienced that they will select one family from the group and all the time that family become their favorites expecting some extra perks from that family and finally those family will walk away by fooling them but guides from these agency mingle with all the group members equally nobody has special preference or privilege - We think the agency has regular motivational classes to their employees on these topics - how to behave to the guests, group, tips / gratitude etc.. Please keep up the same style of working and wishing you all the best for your future developments and let you get more opportunities to serve more guests.

Without question, this was one of the highlights of my three-week vacation in New Zealand. The Te Puia Cultural Tour is worth the trip alone - from the history and heritage of the Māori people to the geothermal activity on display, I cannot recommend enough. The cultural show was terrific and, as the person from the tour who ended up collecting the peace offering at the beginning of the cultural show, that will stay with me for a long time. Spine-tingling.

First visit to New Zealand and first tour. Best decision ever! Jeoff our guide was fun and knowledgeable. The cultural center is a must do to embrace the Maori history and enjoy all NZ things. Being able to pick the afternoon activities was awesome!

Fantastic tour. I would definitely recommend cheeky Kiwi as a tour company. They went the extra mile to fit things in and were very efficient. Hanoz was amazing and friendly and helped make it a really good group experience. Roturua and the tree tops tour was fab

Gerry was an awesome tour guide. Had a wonderful experience even with the slight hiccup. Gerry was professional and sorted the issue quickly.

Amazing!! John was our guide and oh he was hilarious. He kept us entertained all day. Nothing was too much trouble and he even kept my 13 year old son entertained with his music, quizzes and general interesting facts about NZ. Thanks to John, we even got an extra activity in as we were unaware we could book multiple things for the day. He made it super easy for us to pay for the extra activity and I am so grateful as otherwise we would have missed out on a great experience at Redwoods Treewalk. We had a great group with us also. The day flew by so quick. Thank you so much for a fantastic day Cheeky Kiwi Travel and John.

An incredible experience and opportunity and the tour guide John, was an entertaining and very engaging guide who was very keen to answer questions and offer knowledge of the land and activities. He recommended many of other stuff to do in Auckland and overall was the perfect choice to have guiding us. Te Puia was also well worth the trip and offered so much more than expected, alongside the cultural show. I was honoured to represent as Chief and will be a memory ill forever cherish. 5/5

Today was my birthday so I wanted to book something that would be really fun. John picked me up from the meeting point and was so polite. The trip was a experience I will never forget and thanks to John I had a great birthday! When I come back to visit I don't want anyone else to be my tour guide but John!

Such a great experience! You learn about the culture and uts history. I highly recommend this tour and also with Cheeky!

New Zealand's most magnificent geothermal wonderland. This experience featured dramatic geysers, bubbling mud, and beautiful native bush explored by personalised guided tour. Te Puia is home to the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute and offers a state-of-the-art Kiwi Conservation Centre, in which you can get closer than ever before to New Zealand’s national treasure - the native Kiwi bird. For generations, Te Puia has welcomed manuhiri (visitors) from all over the world to explore the magic hidden within Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley during both the day and evening. Nau mai, haere mai. Our experience continued with what was a mouth-watering buffet dinner with locally sourced cuisine and an authentic Māori twist in each dish. Following dinner, we experienced the exhilarating pōhiri (ceremonial welcome) into a beautifully carved meeting house, Te Aronui a Rua. Thoroughly enjoyed the beauty and power of traditional waiata (song), mōteatea (chants), poi and haka. The experience ended at the geothermal valley via a 36-seat electric passenger shuttle for a hot chocolate upon the naturally heated rock-seating overlooking the dramatically lit Pōhutu Geyser. A thoroughly interesting visit like no other.

Brandon was an excellent tour guide and driver. As a local, he was an expert and very, very informative. Brandon made the 2 hour ride interesting and enjoyable. I loved the Maori Village, show and learning about the culture and their arts. The Tour guide was very good at the Maori center. Hangi food Buffett was excellent and filling.

This tour was amazing Our driver, was professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. We learned so much from him on the 2.5-hour drive to and from Rotorua. I highly recommend this day trip with Cheeky Kiwi Tours.

John was a great guide, knowledgeable, entertaining and took care of our needs. Good excursion, provided water and snacks, not your normal ridged tour! Thank John!!!

Terrific day with Cheeky Kiwi. Matt was informative and helpful. The Van was new and comfortable. Definitely will book another tour with them.

Nature, geyser, cultural and food. It's better if Waitomo, Hobbiton and Rotorua tour is together with a one night stay at Rotorua and then back to Auckland. This will enable the tourist to complete the tour within 2 days and enjoy.

Our driver John was very passionate about his job and extremely informative. We had the best day of our 10-day holiday today in NZ. We highly recommend this day trip with Cheeky Kiwi Tours.

Cam was absolutely incredible! His knowledge and passion for New Zealand heritage and culture are incomparable! He was super friendly and chatty, got everyone in the group getting to know eachother and made such a wonderful environment for us all. Highly recommend this tour. I'm not one to usually leave reviews, however this really is a fantastic experience. It was made so much better by Cam and his in depth knowledge.

Cameron was absolutely fantastic! He was very knowledgeable about the history, culture, and natural attractions of Rotorua, making the experience both educational and enjoyable. His friendly and approachable manner made the group feel comfortable, and he went out of his way to answer all our questions. The itinerary was well-organized, and his storytelling brought the sites to life. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Rotorua!

great company to travel with - our guide Grant was great, he wanted to make sure all participants have a good time. Everything was on time, the details of the tour were well explained.

We spent a good deal of time here learning about Māori culture and experiencing several activities. We thoroughly enjoyed our guided tour of the crafts institute watching trainees and masters work in stone/rock carving, wood carving and weaving. Wonderful to see the effort being made to keep theses cultural skills alive. We saw two Kiwis (the bird) in the nocturnal house and toured the geothermal area to take in boiling mud pools, active geysers and that distinct sulphur odour! We witnessed the opening of a Hāngi pit and indulged in a sensational buffet at the restaurant. Next we went to the Te Aronui a Rua Meeting House where, having our chief pass the welcome test, we ventured inside for a fantastic concert by the Māori whānau (family). This is the best experience in Rotorua – a must do!

This show and cultural center was very informative to learn about the beautiful and passionate Maori people. Enjoyed seeing Te Puia hot springs, as well. It was a full day, both driver and tour guide were very nice and managed our time well. We highly recommend!

Our tour guide Hanoz was very informative and considerate about time by making the most of it! Each person had tell all others on tour alittle bit about ourselves which helped all learn and to talk more freely among each other. Very good exercise!

One of the most confusing tour I ever had. I booked a tour to end up to have an other activity which I had pay an extra 80 dollar to do something otherwise I should wait at lake for 2h

Amazing experience, the guide was great, informative, and took care of the trip! The van was new and clean and comfortable. The itinerary of the booking was sufficient and worth the money.

This tour was amazing from beginning to end! Our driver, Hanoz, was professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. We learned so much from him on the 2.5 hour drive to and from Rotorua. Our tour guide at Te Puia and the cultural performance was also wonderful and educational and entertaining and the buffet lunch was delicious! A must do when in New Zealand! Kia ora!

Worth paying a little more for the cultural performance at Te Puia.Did not have the Hangi buffet, but overall a good day at Rotorua.

The trip to Rotorua was amazing. You have to see the show from the Māori people. It was excellent. The geysers were also very cool.

Great tour, performance and food. The main geyser was spectacular. Landscape was breathtaking. Highly recommend.

Brandon was awesome! The tour had 14 people who were doing different experiences, but Brandon managed it all perfectly. He also helped rearrange the van when we had a couple of motion challenged riders. Rotorua and Te Pui were wonderful experience and we are so glad we did this trip. Highly Recommended!

The overall day was interesting and enjoyable enough but could be better! I suggest Viator review the model of how this tour is run. The tour started in a slightly strange way. You get picked up in a mini van and then get transported to Rotorua with virtually zero commentary. Our driver was a somewhat strange character and spent most of the trip over sharing about his personal life rather than sharing any tid bits about the landscape and history. It was good to have a chat but not sure it's appropriate for the tour. Once we arrived in Rotorua, things went all over the place. We were told to go into a waiting area, which was packed, to wait for our tour guide. There was no clarity on how long were waiting but eventually the guide showed up. He was young and friendly and knew a lot about the cultural history of the geisers and the area. The geisers are so cool. There's a slightly pungent smell from the minerals but it's not as bad as everyone warned me. There's lots of opportunity to take photos. We were taken to the kiwi conservatory which is interesting but you get to see one kiwi, two if you're lucky. A bit disappointing! We were then led to the arts cultural museum but those who were attending the Maori concert were told we had about 6 mins only because we then have to run to the concert. I asked the guide why the arts experience was double booked with the concert and just got told that we can come back after to have a look for ourselves. But that meant we miss out on the commentary... so I basically could have just booked transport to Rotorua?! Why then pay a premium for a guided tour?! The concert was great and well worth it. But I was starting to get frustrated at the poor organisation and lack of communication. After the concert finishes there's no guide or anyone around. You don't know how long you have at the arts museum, you dont know how long until lunch. Pretty poor for the cost of the overall experience. Eventually our original driver showed up to gather us for the buffet lunch. The food is fantastic I give you that! Lots of healthy and delicious options. However didn't appreciate being told we had under 30 mins for lunch. I told this to the driver that that's not sufficient time for a family with children. By the time you go around and help kids with their food and sit down to eat you have barely 15 mins. Another example of poor organisation and oversight. After rushing through lunch we get told that we have an extra 15 mins. Honestly...we felt like sheep being herded all day. A pretty crappy way to treat tourists who are paying over $1000 for a family of four! After lunch the tour takes a completely different pace. We got picked up by another mini van by a guide called Hermes who was lovely. He drove us around Rotorua and stopped at lots of scenic spots...Blue and Green lake, a lookout of volcanoes, a beach, Redwood trees, etc. And everywhere you stop you only have a few mins and then you're back to another spot. In and out of the van. I appreciate that it is what it is. But it's a messy, choppy, poorly run tour. I wouldn't recommend it. I think there's better, more enjoyable ways to see Rotorua.

Awesome. From on-time pick up of the tour guide to the whole trip, we had a blast! The concert, visit to the kiwi, weaving, sculpture, geyser, and lunch, were amazing. We had so much fun. Thank you for the experience :)

Dearest gentle readers, Poor communication,30 minutes delayed pickup while standing in cold temperatures and overtly unapologetic staff plagued our trip to the marvelous Rotorua. What could otherwise have been a pleasant experience ended with sadness, anxiety and lack of empathy from the staff and guide towards all 12 guests on this tour group. One would suggest considering some other travel company over Cheeky Kiwi, unless of course one hopes they change their way of operation. In the words of Cheeky Kiwi, “don’t book tour with us via Viator.” One disagrees with this statement where a tour company blames their aggregator for their lapse. It’s cheeky but truly un-kiwi. One cautions that this is a review of the tour company and not the beautiful Rotorua and other places where your truly experienced natural wonders and respectful Māori culture by the Māori people. One wishes the fellow readers and fellow travelers a beautiful trip to Newzealand.

Māori cultural show is highly recommended for first time visitor. Buffet lunch is normal. Hence, not recommended. Not enough time for gift shopping. Overall rating is good.

Went on this tour with Grant and had the best time ever! Always made sure we were comfortable throughout and that we stopped to stretche. He also provided our group so much more information that was very educational too! Thank you Grant! Lora and Rashida Edmonton, Canada 🇨🇦

Our trip to Rotorua lived up to all our expectations. The Te Puia park was a beautiful example of volcanic hot springs complete with an impressive geyser and boiling mud pools. The opportunity to observe kiwi birds was special as well. The Maori cultural show was very informing even if I can't perform the Hoka after the fun lesson. The traditional luncheon was very good and a nice end of the tour. We also got a special show of Polynesian music and dance which was a treat. Our guide, Grant, was very accommodating to everyone's desires for the trip and provided interesting New Zealand history and current practice information along the way. It was wonderful in all aspects.

Awesome excursion to Rotorua geysers/cultural center. Totally cool seeing the geysers, mud pool, and Cultural Center. It was made even more spectacular with our experience guide Grant. He's a native Aucklander and knew everything. He made sure everybody had a great time and importantly enough time to see the site and experience all the bubbling and steam..Truly breathtaking. It was a very organized trip and comfortable and clean vehicle.

This excursion from Auckland should have been a wonderful day out in Rotorua, soaking in the Maori culture, and enjoying the beautiful sights outside of Auckland. Instead, it was fraught with miscommunications, cancelled stops, and ridiculously long waits. Let me break it down: 1. I arrived at the appointed pick up stop 10 minutes prior to the appointed time...no one advised me that the pick up hotel was in a construction zone in which cars could not stop, and to be honest, I was waiting inside the lobby (instead of outside as the fine print said). Needless, a Cheeky Kiwi branded van drove right by at the appointed time, not even slowing down. Panicked that I had missed my transport, the hotel manager called CK on my behalf, where I was directed to go to the nearby intersection for pickup in 5 minutes. Having done that, and waiting 15 minutes, no transport arrived. A run inside to another nearby hotel got new instructions, and I was able to meet up with the van, a non-CK branded vehicle. Turns out the first one wasn't even the right van. 2.John, the van driver was wonderful (a very positive point), apologizing for the mix up, and calming me down as we proceeded with the rest of the pick ups. Okay...so far, so good. 3. As we're leaving the city, John advises the van full of travellers that most of the attractions that were featured in the itinerary are closed, for those who aren't at Te Puia for the afternoon, we'll have to figure out something else. Fortunately I was at Te Puia, but also unware that there were 3 different tours on the bus, and all of them had different attractions, and timings. 4. Te Puia - great attraction, horrible lunch (the Hangi lunch was a normal buffet in the restaurant...hardly a cultural experience). Pick up was to be at 2:30 pm....at 4:05 pm and after asking another CK driver to text him, John was finally able to get back to Te Puia to pick me up, having been stuck at the cultural centre for almost 5 hours. Fortunately the ride back to Auckland was uneventful, and we were able to call it a day. John did his best, but unfortunately I think the cards were stacked against him. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to this tour, and to the experiences it would bring. Instead, it left me disappointed, and wishing I had spent my money elsewhere. I love to travel, and share my travels with many of my online friends, but this trip was a hard one to share about.