Full Waimangu Experience - Walk & Cruise

The park itself is incredible. What I didn’t understand is that we had to make it through all ~4.5km in order to get to the boat. I was under the impression we could choose a shorter route. Turns out that was wrong. The first part of the hike was most stunning - absolutely do that. If I were to do it again, I would spend more time there and take the bus for the second two trail portions. The second trail portion was a lot of uphill and not much view to get from the effort. We had a 5 and 7 year old with us so it just wasn’t great. But they loved the first trail and the boat ride so it ended up all working out! If you’re there with young kids, I just recommend focusing on the first trail and timing it to get to the bus that takes you to the bottom.

Kia Ora Casey and Team, We had an awesome Waimangu experience, the front of house team Shane and Jana were really knowledgeable, helpful, positive and gave us a warm friendly welcome. I recommend this as a Must do geothermal park experience. Cheers Daisy.

What a WONDERFUL & special experience, this is one of the best maintained & stunning natural attractions we have been to in the Rotorua area. From the beautiful person who greeted us & explained everything so well, to the condition of the tracks & viewing areas, this is top class but still completely natural. As you walk through, the scenery changes & opens out to the tranquil Lake 😍 Allow time to stop & enjoy the surroundings & don't miss the boat trip, it's the perfect end to the experience. Highly recommend 11/10

We did track 1, two years ago, but due to a person in our party having an undiagnosed broken toe we had to finish early. Thankfully the bus was a great relief to getting back up the hill. This time my family wanted to complete the 3 tracks plus the boat trip. Yes it’s pricey but I still feel it was value for money. After doing hobbiton and rail cruising, we rated this our favourite. With mostly downhill tracks it’s great for every level of fitness. We are not hikers at all. Only a small section on track 2 was closed to flooding so we had to hope in a bus to go to next safe drop off so we could complete our journey. Bird life especially around the waterways was fantastic for photographing. We stopped along the way with a premade lunch and enjoyed nature. Most improved from our last visit was decent toilets at each bus stop. Very handy and well maintained. Driving out from Rotorua we were concerned as there was a bit of fog. It didn’t ruin our walk, and we could see in front of us, it soon lifted and we had a wonderful day on the lake. The excursion on the lake was truly spectacular, inside a crate, a geyser, hot springs and the history lesson completed the wonderful cruise. The boats are very classy and our tour guide was wonderful. As May is a quiet time we had the boat to ourselves, a true VIP tour. So glad we went back.

Fantastic experience! A really good hike followed by an awesome boat cruise. The boat guide Martin was full of valuable information.

An amazing experience . Very well organized from start to finish .we did ' The Full Waimangu Experience ' .. highly recommend . Easy walk .. and the views of the volcanic activity was wonderful .

Great walk and boat ride afterwards. You get a nice up close view of the active geothermal environment. Love seeing nature at its finest. The cruise was informative and peaceful.

Full Maimangu walk & cruise. Doesn't seem a long way, but wear good footwear & prepare for a beautiful natural journey. The walk involves a lot of up/down steps - hence the time it takes (around 3hrs total). This walk is well worth the effort and highly recommended. The end cruise caps off the great journey with a knowledgeable cruise captain highlighting significant natural highlights and geological landmarks and facts around before & aftermath of the 1886 eruption. Fascinating and educational.

5 out of 5. Great experience. This was the first thing in country that really wowed us. Unexpectedly beautiful and serene, despite being in an active volcano field. It’s a self-guided, 2 hour walk, with some stairs and inclines, but absolutely worth it. You travel through 3 distinct levels, up close and personal with geysers, bubbling mud and Australasian swamp hens. At each section you can grab a bus to the boat or back up. The boat ride around the lake is with a guide. Wade, our guide, was very knowledgeable and had a good sense of humor. The story of the 1886 Tarawera eruption and the formation of Lake Rotomahana is fascinating and hard to believe. You see more geysers, including a baby geyser, and get nicely cooled off from your walk. Highly, highly recommend this tour.

Best place to go to.... good information to explain the many sights to see. Boat trip was great with s very good warning about the wind conditions that day

Great walk down to the boat. All 3 were not too strenuous. Lovely seeing all the geothermal activity and the information supplied. The boat trip was very informative

This is significantly less crowded than the neighboring Wai-O-Tapu, If you are willing to do a hike, you will be rewarded with incredible thermal features. Definitely recommend doing the full experience - hike and boat. But what really set them out was the incredible ticket agent who helped us with our car troubles - many thanks!! He originally checked us in and provided great information for our day - and saved the day when we were hot and tired!!

We booked the "full experience", which includes a self-guided walk through the three sections of the park, and a cruise on the nearby Lake Rotomahana. Re the walk: The first section is by far the most interesting, with some incredible views of the lakes, streams and thermal features. The other two sections are nice but not nearly as stunning. However, you need to do all three to get to the boat dock (or take the free shuttle bus to the end of section three). Most of the trail is flat or downhill. Re the boat cruise: We had a cool, rainy, windy afternoon and the weather detracted from the experience. We were provided with rain ponchos (for free), a nice touch. The cruise included some interesting stories and history about the volcanic past and the birds that frequent the lake. There is some beautiful scenery and a section with active geysers. In spite of the weather, this was my favorite activity in the Rotorua area.

This was a great experience. The walk through the valley ensured we were close to the hot springs and that we understood the evolution of the valley. We did the boat trip too and that was excellent with great commentary and again up close but safe viewing of a geyser in action. We highly recommend this trip.

The walk was beautiful. Definitely worth it. Well maintained except the shuttle bus. Wish they would upgrade to electric.

What a peaceful and unique experience. We hadn’t visited sites like this in the past and really enjoyed seeing such stunning natural wonders. The setting is pristine and well maintained. The restrooms were very clean. The trails were easy to navigate with a lot of educational signage to help you appreciate the formation of the geothermal features. The boat guide was very knowledgeable and we loved every minute of this experience!

This was a very pleasant walk through a volcanic valley. Plenty to look at in terms of historic volcanic activity and some current activity. The experience concluded with a boat trip across Frying Pan Lake to see an erupting geyser.

We did the trail hike at Waimangu and we did all three sections. They advise that it will take two hours but it took us about an hour and a half and that was even with stopping to take pictures at many stops along the way. The first track section is the most picturesque and is absolutely beautiful. Yes there are some grades but if you are remotely fit without any big mobility challenges, you will find it very manageable. The second track section is interesting but doesn’t have as many spectacular stops. The third track section is very flat and doesn’t take long at all. And you see all of the ducks and swans at that point. There are bathrooms at each of the three bus stops along the way but they were doing maintenance on the last one so it was out of service. The boat ride is also wonderful. Our guide Ryan was very knowledgeable and I thought it was very good the way he made sure that people sitting on either end of the pontoon boat for good pictures of the interesting features along the way. I would highly recommend Waimangu for an interesting and beautiful couple of hours.

INCREDIBLE, A MUST EXPERIENCE! Words cannot describe how beautiful the whole walk and boat tour was. The boat guide was very knowledgeable and you can feel his enthusiasm for his job and country. I rarely take videos when I travel, but I took many on this adventure. Every corner had a new surprise and it wasn’t feasible to keep taking snap shots. The food at the cafe was amazing and I really liked the gift shop as well. I didn’t rent a car for my NZ trip but I found a good taxi service in downtown Rotorua. Round trip was a total of 1 hour and the fare was $140 NZD, around $80 US.

It was beautiful and wood definitely do again. Walkway was good and nice to walk on .the information boards was helpful and really helped to understand how everything happened.

Very good experience. Good maps ans signs. Plenty to see along the walk. Dan our tour boat skipper was excellent. Good explanation of what had happened with the eruption. Skilled skipper with a clear ability to explain what we were seeing.

It is a must‑see in Rotorua. The self‑guided walk offers a range of trails suitable for all fitness levels, from a short 1.5 km highlights walk to a more challenging 4.5 km hike, including a climb over Mount Haszard for panoramic views.

I can't count how many times this day we said 'this is incredible' It just doesn't feel like the same planet once you leave the car park! There are plenty of Volcanic / Geysers around Rotorua, but we had the best time at this one! We did Wai-o-tapu first and then came here, and wish we'd have started here and did Wai-o-tapu a different day... you can spend an ENTIRE day here! There are what feels like 40 different looking planets in this place! and bird life too... The cruise was cool to do too, we were very lucky to have silk water, sunshine and the boat to ourselves. This was our favourite place in Rotorua

Very nice and beautiful place (the same applies to Orakei Korako and Wai O Tapu, which are both also very nice, still different, so all the three places are definitely worth the visit - contrary to Te Puia which is not that beautiful and interesting at all and is heavily overpriced). I would only not buy the boat trip which was not bad at all but was quite expensive).

Very majestic views, a steep walk so go in suitable footwear and take a walking pole if you have any mobility issues. The path at the bottom divides and it is not clear which way to go but you end up at the same place anyway.

Couldn't have asked for better. Great 2 hour walk down to where we got on the boat for the lake trip. Whilst walking down we were able to enjoy the full benefits of the geothermal activity within the area. Each individual viewing area had a board spelling out the nature of the activity going on. When on the boat the 'skipper' provided an easily understood talk on what we were seeing and the background to what had happened during the previous volcanic activities. Highly recommended

Lovely walk through lush vegetation with various geothermal sites en route- hot springs, craters, geysers. Good information boards . Boat trip on lake at the end of the main trail, lots of birds and geysers to see. Cafe and toilets at entrance.

Fascinating engaging and educational experience. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk which was on a warm day and in the sun, so don't underestimate how warm you can get. It is truly amazing to see how the valley has changed in just over 100 years, and the newly formed lakes are incredible. The whole team including the lake cruise made this a memorable experience. Highly recommended +++ Minor slight quibble: the buses bringing you back up to the start are so old they emit more pollution than the rest of the geothermal vents put together. Isn't it time to retire them for EVs.....?

The staff was so accommodating, helpful, and educational. We initially reserved tickets for the walk and boat ride, but we were informed that the boat would be undergoing renovations and would not be available. We had planned to go just for the walk but upon arrival we were informed that the boat was completed earlier than expected! The staff went out of their way to ensure we made it to the boat on time and truly made our experience so memorable. The boat tour was our favorite part, our guide Martin was very friendly and educational. The boat was extremely comfortable and the view on the tour was amazing! The walk afterward was awesome, and we loved reading the history and fun facts associated with each stop. I would highly recommend the Volcanic Valley - must do experience in the area! Thank you to the staff for going out of the way to make this such a great day for us.

The service was poor and uncoordinated. We took the 8:30 am package. The website told us to reach 5 mins earlier (i.e. 8.25 am) which we did. But due to a “road work”, some of the staff were late to report to work and we were told there would be a 10-min delay. The lady told us that everything would be pushed back by 10 mins. We had no issue about this though I did experience the road work driving to the venue and noted that it was nothing at all. It was 8 am and minimal traffic. The road work was very short. We spent the extra time at the souvenir area but no staff came to tell us that they were ready to check us in. We had to approach the reception ourselves. The young lady in glasses told us that the cruise ship would leave exactly at 10.25 am. No pushing back. After the check in, we started the hike at 9 am and rushed through the first few check points as we wanted to make it for the 10.25 am cruise. When we realised that we could be late, we stopped at Bus Stop 2 to take the 10.15 am bus to the lake. (The bus would reach the lake at 10.20 am in time for us to catch the 10.25 am cruise.) We were at Bus Stop 2 at 10.10 am and waited for close to 20 mins. As there was no bus, i called +64 7 366 6137 and told them that there was no bus. Knowing that we had missed the 10.25 am cruise, my family went to visit the Warbrick terrace. On our way back to bus stop 2, we saw the bus going in the opposite direction. The bus driver lady claimed that she was at the bus stop, saw nobody and drove on. This was clearly not true. Why would I make a phone call and write reviews just to pick a fight over the bus timing? We are simply upset with the service. To make matters worse, while waiting for the 11.25 am cruise, we saw that the 10.25 am cruise had only one passenger. We should have been on that cruise! And the 11.25 am cruise was packed and only left at 11.36 am. This was because they needed to wait for a tour group. Advice to all future travellers: Don’t pick the 8.30 am package. The staff need some time to get their system going. Don’t bother with the irrelevant advisory about reaching the information centre 5 mins before your package time. It is inconsequential. And if you are not part of any tour group, expect zero service.

Nice quiet site with lots of information. Is good to take some extra time for the walk !so there is no tids pressure to catch the boat