Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland, Rotorua, New Zealand

Fascinating array of thermal pools of varying hues, bubbling mud, mineral deposits and craters. Lady Know Geyser erupted when prepped. We spent several hours at the site.

We had an amazing experience at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland! Our guide, Bella, was absolutely fantastic. She was so personable, friendly, and full of incredible local knowledge. We highly recommend doing the guided tour, as there was so much fascinating information and history that we never would have learned if it weren’t for Bella. She truly made the experience that much more special and memorable. Thank you, Bella, for such a wonderful experience! Highly recommend to anyone visiting Wai-O-Tapu.

We bring tour groups here and our customers always love it. Staff are always amazing and the park is incredible

Wonderful to walk amongst the thermals and to enjoy the scenery, near and far. The paths are well marked. They say allow 90 mins but we took double that just because we wanted to enjoy it, take photos and try to spot the birds. We were not in a rush! We spotted a member of staff discretely sitting on a bench watching the boardwalk and paths. He had a radio - so guess he was there in case anyone got into difficulty. There was a delay at the entrance as others had difficulty with their pre booked tickets. Ours with Viator got us through with no issues! The person taking tickets apologised for the delay, put ours through and said " that's how its supposed to work!" There were steps on the third loop and the paths were dusty....so if youre precious about your shoes... I wouldn't take toddlers or children who can't reliably do what they're told!

If you are active, this tour is easily done in < 1 1/2 hours so you can start at opening and be done in time to view Lady Knox Geiser. The signage is self explanatory and there are optimal photo locations

Really interesting place and one that must be visited if you are in the area. Lady Knox - mweh! A bit disappointing even if we were aware that is an artificial geiser. However, it is worth visiting those places.

Interesting experience combining the geothermal park and nature walk. Beautiful colours and suitable for both young and old, highly recommend it.

This was an AWESOME experience and worth the price of entry. I highly recommend you plan to spend a couple of hours and do the entire experience. There are 3 different walks OR you can do them all with some out and backs. The entire park is worth the walk. It was not crowded at all when we visited and that made the experience more enjoyable due to the peace and quiet of being out in nature. There are plenty of places to sit down and they allow you to take your own water bottle and they have a filler too. (Just fill up before you start on the path.)

Thoroughly enjoyed it all, especially the colours.

It was so sad seeing the Elizabeth guyser artificially triggered with washing powder. While we were assured it was an ecological brand and based on a historic event it just overshadowed the whole day to see natural resources being polluted like this.

Wonderful experience Beautiful and surreal

Great walk around the park. We did all the trails and got to enjoy some shade along the way. Great pictures and experience!

We chose to walk all 3 routes around the geothermal pools, taking an hour and a half. The track is easy and breathtaking (haha). The colours are unimaginable, the champagne pool had a fluorescent orange frame with light blue liquid and was constantly smoking. If you go to walk 3 you can see a snow capped mountain. I recommend the mud pool (not for swimming) which explode up in large fountains. If you want to see lady Knox guiser, you need to be there at 10am at the latest. Afterwards, I recommend swimming in the warm stream and waterfalls of Kerosene Creek five minutes away.

This was far more than I expected and we got to see all the colours of Artistes Pallet and the Champagne Pool plus many others, but these are the two I wanted to see. Truly breathtaking to see. We called in the cafe after, and I have to say they serve the best ever sausage rolls 🤣

This is what people come to Rotorua for so it’s obviously a must do. But allow time for other things too. Lots of fun activities in Rotorua.

We arrived near 11am, luckily most of the large bus tours were leaving at this time, more beautiful than expected.

We had a nice time exploring the Wai o tapu thermal park.

a wonderful place to visit, there's many trees, good environment

We went here on a week day so it wasn't crowded at all. The paths were easy to walk and things were well signed. It was very cold so wear a lot of clothes. I wore six layers! The sights are incredible - absolutely unique. It was further from Rotorua than expected but it's worth it. I thought maybe I could swim in a thermal pool or bath in mud but it's all visual only.

This was one of the best experiences we had on our trip. It was easily accessible for my elderly mother. The Lady Knox geiser was remarkable and the walk through the thermal park magical. The cafe there was great also. The staff were so helpful and considerate. This is. Must do in Rotaroa.

Wow, wow and wow Great walk around the thermal area. Well maintained and easy to walk. There are a few steep steps but ok to walk up and down.

A really interesting trip, lots to see and marvel at. Well organised trip to see the Lady Knox gyser whilst there.

We went to the Lady Knox and the Thermal area and no one ever asked for tickets at either place. I would recommend trying it for free first and buy tickets only if they change something and ask you to. The two places are totally worth seeing. Wear great walking shoes.

Wonderful experience. Beautiful scenery. Interesting place to visit Lady Knox Gyser is awesome. Highly recommend.

Great experience 👍 worth seeing

A wonderful experience seeing the thermal wonderland and seeing the different elements of the steam

Having been before several years ago, it was good to see the investment in pathways, boardwalks and railings. The route was well signposted with information boards, informative and fun. The clarity of different levels of walk was helpful in planning our day. The cafe had a good selection of hot and cold food, with good coffee and plenty of space for diners inside and out (outside was covered). We also attended the Lady Knox Gyser show - which was good, but perhaps a little underwhelming when understanding how the spectacle is managed. Due to the quantity of people attending, if you skipped I’m sure you would have a quieter main tour.

Visited on 22 August with a family group of 8, including relatives from overseas. Even though it wasn't my first time here, the park never fails to impress! My family loved seeing the unique volcanic landscape, especially the Champagne Pool. The walks are easy, the signage is great, and it’s a perfect showcase of Rotorua’s natural wonders. A perfect day out!

It's was a nice walk through the lakes and ponds. Amazing colours.

It was a fun experience and we enjoyed it. Trails were easy to navigate. It too is about two and half hours to see all the areas.

Good walk but a little on the expensive side, my Dad would have liked to have had a map so he knew what was coming up

We loved our visit to Wai-O-Tapu! It was raining during our trip, but the bad weather didn't ruin the experience at all. The rain actually made the steam rising from the colorful pools look even more dramatic and beautiful.

The geothermal Park is interesting and with well laid out paths but don't bother with the geyser, it erupts on time only because they force it with soap flakes. Wish we'd known that in advance.

The scenery was exactly I expected after visited Yellowstone . I wasn't surprised. The same smell, similar colours but different fauna and everything smaller with more intimate vibes but still the same geological roots.

We spent close to two hours wandering but you can do the trails in less time. Lots of steps on the third leg. Champagne Lake is my favourite. The TripAdvisor price was cheaper than other options at the time.

We all loved the experience in our family ages 1 to 60. Everyone was excited about the geyser explosion and the singing to accompany it was beautiful. We enjoyed the easy walk around the thermal pools and the children were wowed. The only let down was that we didn’t realise you had to drive to watch the geyser and then drive back to the walk so it was a bit rushed getting to the geyser. It would be amazing if they had transport from one place to the next so you don’t have to park twice.

Nice and easy process to book. Good value for money. Great detail on the package. 😊

Some very close friends of mine and I had the opportunity to come visit this AMAZING sight! We started off with the Lady Knox Geyser and I just want to give a HUGE shout out and props to the two guides, Sawa and most of all Awatea! They were great getting us all into the facility but the one thing I really want to mention is how BEAUTIFUL Awatea did as she presented and introduced Lady Knox. She gave a great intro as well as a brief history lesson with light hearted and friendly humor that had us in stitches! The part that touched me the most was when she sang and THIS GUUURRLLL SAAANNGG!! It was INCREDIBLE! I was in tears! What a beautiful tribute not only to the presentation but to the land and Māori people. It was humbling to hear and take in. I felt so honored to be there! Thank you Awatea! Thank you to the Thermal Wonderland! The rest of the attraction was just UNBELIEVABLE and hard to justify on here just how majestic it all was! You HAVE to check it out! Hands down! And say hi to Awatea and Sawa!

The thermal wonderland park was beautiful! There are a lot of walking paths that you can take to see incredible pools. If you planning a trip to Rotorua, I’d recommend adding this park to your stop to enjoy this natural wonderland!

fantastic, staff were super friendly and helpful, tracks were easy to navigate! It's cold in some places, and hot in others so have layers Incase :)

Favourite part of our trip. Worth the time to stroll through. Next time we will slow down and enjoy it longer.

Absolutely amazing experience that was otherworldly and made special by Georgia and Rae.

I was a bit disappointed on the mediocrity of this place. Geysers were a rarity even if u experience one. It mostly consisted of sink holes spewing cloud of sulfur. There were couple of pools that showed some colors but mostly bland. My review is based on the fact that I have seen much better in other parts of the world. My biggest disappointment was Lady Know Geyser. It was not even natural. It was artificially created by dumping soap etc. to force water from the vent hole at precisely 10:15 am. Natural Geysers sprout with an approximate intervals through out the day. Not at at 10:15 am once a day.

It was amazing and emotional because you’re learning about the history and seeing for yourself the impact of what had happened. My daughter who is 1 years old loved it and walked a little bit until she kept getting distracted. I love that you can go in your own pace and really feel in the scenery of everything

Love the thermal wonderland. Absolute must visit if travelling NZ. Has some nice walks around the park that are not hard but there are some steps you need to climb on return of you decide to walk to the lake. The only issue we and many others had was the Lady Knox geyser. Access to the geyser was confusing and not very well documented. It advises you to get there early but there is No one there to direct you. You drive to was is sign posted to Lady Knox only to be greeted by a gate that says Private Property. Returning back to the main car park is quite a distance from Lady Knox but turns out, you need to wait for the gate to open and then drive down to another car park. It would be good if there were a sign at the gate saying when it opens or to visit the information centre to check in.

Had been here quite some years ago and was very impressed with how this place is presented and its thermal activities. Tracks excellent, safety fences and signs mean you couldn't possibly accidentally get into danger. We went on a stunningly beautiful day and the only thing wrong was there was no wind and so the steam sat over the Champagne (?) pool. We were really impressed with everything and would advise anyone to go there. It was amazing seeing how many manuka plants can grow so close to the hot pools!

Great morning at Wai-O~Tapu. Short drive down from Rotorua, arrived for the Lady Knox Geyser eruption at 10:15, following this returned to the visitor centre for a walk around the the beautiful geo-thermal area. Very enjoyable walk with lots of signs giving more information on points of interest. We could have easily spent much longer at the park but had to leave just after lunchtime as we had an afternoon activity booked in Rotorua. Coffees and snacks at the cafe were also first rate.

We went to watch Lady Knox 1st and because we had paid to get into Wai o Tapu wounderland decided to look. It was the best one we had seen in Rotorua . Nice easy walking track . Good signage explaining each section.

Great experience. Easy to move around the two sites. Crow control is good. Head early to explore the thermal lakes before 10.15am