National Kiwi Hatchery - Kiwi Encounter Guided Tour

A wonderful experience! Great interactive facilities, knowledgeable guides. We were very lucky to see a chick getting it's health check, and one hatching. Was definitely worth the visit, and will be going again.

Loved it! I could have stayed another couple of hours.

Very knowledgeable staff. We learned a lot about Kiwis and had an enjoyable time. Small farm tour heading to the hatchery was a fun bonus.

Very informative. The signage isn't well posted. We weren't sure we were in the right place. It is on the Agradome site.

very informative presentation. great job! so you lnow it no pics inside hatchery; lots of farm animals to see too!

Fantastic! Saw one day old chic and embryos via candling. Theresa was an informative and knowledgeable guide with great humour. We loved her.

An enjoyable tour. We saw 3 kiwis in their night enclosure, saw how eggs are incubated, and a fledgling being weighed. The guide was quite good but lacked a bit of depth of knowledge.

Loved our visit, 3 chicks, great guide

What an amazing experience and a great organisation doing super important work. Our guide, Andrea, was very knowledgeable and entertaining, and seeing the hatching and veterinary after care was fabulous.

Very good experience, you shouldn’t miss it if you are animals lover.

Several months ago , my daughter (11) told me how much she wanted to see a kiwi, so when I discovered that there was a kiwi hatchery in Rotorua offering guided tours, I knew we had to book it! We had such a wonderful experience. Our tour guide, Toni, was incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, and our bus driver, Therese, was absolutely lovely. We learned so much about these special native birds, their conservation, and the incredible work that goes into protecting them. It was such a privilege to see kiwi up close, especially the adorable little chicks. Something we had talked about as a family just months earlier had become such a special memory. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn about the connection to Ngāi Tahu, my own iwi, which made the experience even more meaningful for me personally. This was such a fantastic experience for our family and the perfect way to finish our Rotorua holiday. We came away having learned so much, with some very special memories, and a real appreciation for the work being done to protect these beautiful birds. I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone visiting Rotorua especially those who aren't from New Zealand.

Awesome experience. We got to see Adult Kiwi's, a young kiwi and even 2 that hatched in the past 2 days. I highly recommend to do this plus all proceed support a great cause. Very informative tour guide.

Great unique experience. Thrilled to see kiwis. I wish there was a kids vs adults booking option. Would have liked a quieter experience with only adults.

I learned so much on this tour! Our guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastically shared his knowledge with us.

One of the many things we HAD to do when coming to NZ was see a Kiwi bird. Definitely not a good chance of seeing these cute birds in the wild, being noctornal. Fascinating little birds for sure so we booked our tour. Showed up and in a small group of about 12 we were in a van and onto the farm towards the Kiwi. We got to see them all! (Bear in mind they are nocturnal and are in as natural an enclosure as they could manage- you are in the dark with red lights on- there is a chance they could hide/sleep where you won't get a chance to see them). We learned so much. The employees were kind and informative. They are doing hard work trying to conserve this lovely little bird and just touring helps even if you don't get to see a live kiwi (try and remember that!). Since we came in spring we were even more privelegded to see quite a few baby Kiwi, one that was even not sponsored yet! Wish we could have done that! (Cost is somehwere around 1500-1700 American I believe) Every bit counts, we got some lovely items in the gift shop and were very happy to have done this tour.

Wonderful insight to the preservation work towards restoring kiwi numbers in the wild. Lucky enough to observe a healthcheck in five day old chick.

Very interesting and informative tour, get to see kiwis up nice and close. Guides and staff were amazing.

Really great and informative. Git to see the 3 kiwis that they have and also some new little chick's which had just hatched. Was a fantastic tour and highly recommend going and doing if you are in Rotorua

Easy to find from Rotorua, ample parking, well informed friendly staff. Excellent tour, great to see kiwis and learn more about them. Highly recommend planning a visit

Wonderful experience at the National Kiwi Hatchery. The guide was very informative and engaging. She made sure our group got to see the kiwis in the nocturnal house and we even got to see a 4-day old chick in the brooding room. I would recommend this tour to anyone who is even remotely interested in learning about or seeing kiwis up close. The setting is very pretty as well on property shared with the agrodome. Photos are not allowed inside the hatchery on this tour but the experience was better than any photos. My only recommendation would be a larger gift shop at the ticketing site where tours pick up and drop off since time was very limited at the hatchery shop.

National Kiwi Sanctuary was amazing! We loved every minute of this tour. Our guide (I wish I could remember her name, but she was from Chile) was amazing. She was so knowledgeable and clearly passionate about kiwi conservation, and she answered every question we threw at her. We were lucky enough to see a kiwi chick that was only one hour old, which was unforgettable. We also got to watch the team do health checkups on the young kiwi under 1 kg, and it was fascinating to see how much care goes into each bird. As a bonus, the sanctuary is on a working farm, so there are plenty of other animals around. We saw so many cute lambs, cows, and even some baby ducks. Just a heads up that photos aren't allowed during the tour itself, which makes sense for the birds. You can still snap some of the stuffed kiwi displays at the start and the animals around the farm. Highly recommend for anyone visiting. You leave with a real appreciation for the work being done to protect kiwi.

This was so cool!! I will go again! A must see. We were lucky to see so many baby kiwis on our visit.

The National Kiwi Hatchery is a must do in Rotorua. A well run and organised tour. Our great Tour Guide provided interesting information on kiwis and conservation, suitable for all ages. We were very lucky to see a kiwi chick hatching.

Such a great experience! It was fantastic, from start to finish. We got to see eggs, a newly hatched baby, and an older baby get a health check. The adult kiwis were a bit elusive but we did see them in the end.

Best kept secret! We stopped at Agrodome to kill 30 min before hotel checkin and see sheep and left two hours later with smiles after seeing and learning all about kiwis! It was personal, small group, and very supportive of kid questions. If you’re visiting New Zealand and you want to see kiwis - especially adorable baby kiwis - this was perfect!

Our visit to the Kiwi hatchery was fascinating. We were so excited to have the opportunity to see kiwis in their natural habitats and learn about the hatching program. To learn about the threats to the kiwi bird and how they produce their young was very interesting. We look forward to exploring how we can further support this wonderful program and helping to grow the kiwi population.

Was wonderful to learn all about the kiwis and how they are born and raised I also learnt a lot about them thanks to Toni our tour guide she was awesome and very knowledgeable had a great time

This is such a worth going place in Rotorua. Honestly at first I didn’t know there is this place with a tour because I asked Gemini to help to schedule a 4 day trip in Rotorua and Gemini didn’t mention about this place at all. I accidentally heard about the hatchery from one of the day tour guides. Please book your ticket online in advance because the tour does sell out most of the time. The tour is almost 2 hours long, the guide will explain everything about kiwi bird and the situation they face. We got to visit grownup kiwis who can not be released into the wild anymore in their close to natural habitat enclosure, visited kiwis who were just out of their eggs in the same morning, and kiwi babies who were still nursed until they grow big enough to defend themselves in the wild.

A great way to see some kiwis, understand them and the challenges they face and support conservation efforts.

Fantastic day out. The guide was superb. Only downside was the speed that the minibus went over speed humps.

DO NOT MISS THIS. We were gobsmacked the whole time we were on this tour. Our guide was hilarious and so knowledgeable about these amazing birds. We got to see three kiwi and also a 48 hour old hatchling!

Had an Amazing time at the Kiwi Hatchery! Our guide, Veronica, was so informative and knowledgeable! We had the chance to see and learn so much about these amazing birds and the incredible people who take care of them. 100% recommend!

Incredibly educational, thorough and above all; loads of fun! We were so lucky to see all three kiwi’s going about in their habitat, and Theresa was an absolutely lovely guide.

Learnt so much about the kiwis and the facility that they have for them is incredible. Our host was amazing!

The National Kiwi Hatchery was a very cool place to visit. The scientists and guides were incredibly knowledgeable, and I was amazed by the many roles they take on each day. From driving the buses and leading engaging tours to conducting all the critical kiwi conservation research and even running the gift shop, their dedication was evident everywhere. Their passion for protecting New Zealand’s iconic kiwi and sharing that work with visitors made the experience both informative and inspiring. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a deeper appreciation of kiwi conservation.

Such a wonderful tour today, thank you so much to our guide who was so knowledgeable and helpful in pointing out the kiwi in their enclosure. I learned so much from the guide herself and the information boards around the exhibit. My recommendation is to book directly with the hatchery rather than through TripAdvisor so that way your money goes directly towards the conservation efforts!!!

We toured outside of breeding season so weren't sure how much we'd get to see. Super interesting! 3 kiwi in the nocturnal house and a guide who made every effort to ensure we were in the house when the kiwi were active. Very interesting hearing all about kiwi couple's idiosyncracies and about the organisations conservation efforts. Well worth the $.

Nico was awesome 👌 I would have lived to see more kiwi, but understand we were out of the season. Our guide was amazing really patient as we had family's on the trip with rambunctious kids.

What an amazing experience. Was impressive to seeing the hatchery and all the work they do in protecting and caring for kiwis. The tour host was informative and talked through all the stages and life cycle of bird. 100% recommend if you have time to go visit.

It was a very informative tour and they do great work. We got to see three resident Kiwi and our guide was great.

Informative, comprehensive and amazing! The spokesperson that took our tour, l believe, touched upon every aspect of a Kiwis life. She answered all questions with solid knowledge.

I learn a lot for things about kiwi and I was so nice to see the rare animal for the first time. I definitely recommend this experience as all money go the hatchery

I took a group of young people with disabilities on the National Kiwi Hatchery Tour, it was a great experience! The guide took their time answering our young peoples questions, always allowed time and space for them to ask anything and was very understanding and welcoming of the group. We had a great time, learnt a lot, it was a nice sized group. Would love to come back again during hatching season to see more!

Very interesting tour, learned a lot about kiwi conservation. The resident kiwis were also super cute!

The tour was incredibly informative and we spot both the adult and the baby kiwis foraging in the dim light, which mimics their natural habitat.

Tour was informative and interesting, but too expensive and misleading. During the off season there are no eggs to see, and there were no baby Kiwis to view up close in someone’s hand like in the photos. The time with the Kiwis was in a dark room for 10 minutes where you could catch glimpses of them. Maybe better during breeding season, but was not worth the price for what was provided

What a great experience to learn about the brown kiwi and what New Zealand does to protect this specifies of native bird. Our guide was very knowledgeable and anticipated our needs. She rearranged the tour to help allow us to get a good view of the kiwis before they went to bed. I’d recommend going mid morning so that the kiwis are still active and are not going to sleep early.

We loved our tour and can't recommend it enough. Our guide (annoyingly I forget her name!) was brilliant - extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate! The tour was really educational and so interesting without being too intense or info heavy. We went outside the hatching season but it didn't bother us at all, as we still saw 2 adult kiwis and an older chick which was amazing! Despite the no photo/video rule being in place for kiwi welfare, it also benefited us as it was so nice to just appreciate seeing the birds with our own eyes and be in the moment, instead of watching them through a screen like so many of us do nowadays. The work these guys do to help save such an important animal is incredible, and all your money goes straight into the hatchery and it's conservation work, so do yourself and the kiwis a favour and go!

An extremely informative tour showing the amazing work of the Kiwi conservationist. Heartening to hear of the success of this work. We plan on doing it again between September and March when there will be even more to see then as there will be live eggs and hatching. We will be promoting this tour to our family and friends as well worth it.