White Island Tours
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White Island Tours
Join White Island Tours on a journey to discover the incredible active marine volcano that is White Island!
Departing from Whakatāne in the Bay of Plenty, you’ll join our friendly crew aboard one of our fleet of boats and head 49km off the coast towards White Island, New Zealand’s only active marine volcano.
Upon arrival, we’ll disembark directly into the crater complex. No climbing is required as this is one of the world’s most accessible live volcanoes. Our experienced and knowledgeable guides will take you on a fascinating guided tour to explore White Island’s inner crater. Hear about the interesting history and geology of White Island as you discover first-hand the magic of this sensational volcano. Get up close to roaring steam vents, bubbling pits of mud, hot volcanic streams, the amazing lake of steaming acid and see the remains of the island’s Sulphur factory. Following this once in a lifetime journey into a volcano crater you will return to the boat and be served a picnic style packed lunch before we depart for the return trip to Whakatāne.
The area is also home to dolphins, whales and other marine life and viewing these majestic creatures in their natural habitat is a great way to end an already amazing day.
You’re only a few clicks away from what can only be described as a truly unique and awe-inspiring adventure…
Qualmark Endorsed Visitor Activity and Qualmark Enviro-Gold.
Details
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White Island ToursCommercial organisation |
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North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Whakatane |
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Geothermal
Boat Cruises
Reviews
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5.0/5
A truely wonderful experience that any traveller to NZ should experience.
A highly professional and informative crew who go above and beyond to ensure guest are looked after and given the best possible experience. Do not miss this one!
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5.0/5
Absolutely fabulous a must see when visiting NZ.
Everyone that worked at White Island Tours are very passionate and knowledgeable. Don't visit without doing this tour it truly is a trip of a lifetime.
Hi Amanda,
We're so happy to hear that you enjoyed your visit to White Island with us, and thank you for taking the time to write this review and share your experience. You're kind recommendation is very much appreciated also!
witmarketing
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Hi Monique,
Thank you for your review - we're pleased to hear that you received "top service" during your visit to White Island. That is something we're most proud of!
witmarketing
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We share your sentiments exactly, Sylvain! :)
witmarketing
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4.5/5
A very well organised tour with great care taken with respect to the safety aspects.
A good close encounter with the type of volcano that doesn't spew lava - mainly sulphur and steam. Heaps of information from the Guides. Not for the faint hearted getting on and off the landing boats. An exciting day all round. Not to be missed.
Hi Alison,
Thank you for your comprehensive review. As you can imagine, lot of care and consideration goes into the safety aspect of our tours (we are on an active volcano afterall), so it was pleasing to hear that this did not go unappreciated! :)
witmarketing
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4.5/5
Expensive but worth.
Nice walk on the volcano with basic explanation. If you want to stay outside in the boat take a waterproof jacket. Lots of sick people. Stay outside in the middle of the boat!
Hi Sylvain,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour of White Island with us! Cheers!
witmarketing
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Hi Julian,
We're pleased to hear that you enjoyed your visit to White Island with us, and thank you for taking the time to post your review.
witmarketing
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4.5/5
Great tour!
one of the highlights of our holiday. I could not hear the information from the skipper on the upper dek of the Peejay, the noice of the engines, the wind etc. was too loud and the volume too low. The bot, lunch and guides were perfect.
Hi R. Damen,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review! We're thrilled you had such a great time visiting White Island with us and that it was one of the highlights of your holiday!
witmarketing
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Hi Anais Roux,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We agree, White Island truly does feel like another world!!
It was great to hear you enjoyed your tour with us - thank you kindly for the 10/10!
witmarketing
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0.5/5
We wanted to do a trip to the Island nearby Whakatane.
When we arrived at the office they told us it was cancelled because of the weather. They should have phoned us earlier, so we wouldn't have come all the way from Opotiki.
Due to the weather dependency of our tours we have a process whereby all passengers are contacted the night before their tour to confirm whether the tour is going ahead or not. On some occasions our skippers are unable to make a decision until the morning of departure in which case we contact all passengers from 8am onwards to advise if the trip is proceeding or has been cancelled. Unfortunately it appears that on this occasion the call was not received and for this we offer our sincere apologies.
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5.0/5
A truely wonderful experience that any traveller to NZ should experience.
A highly professional and informative crew who go above and beyond to ensure guest are looked after and given the best possible experience. Do not miss this one!
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Hi Julian,
We're pleased to hear that you enjoyed your visit to White Island with us, and thank you for taking the time to post your review.
witmarketing
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We share your sentiments exactly, Sylvain! :)
witmarketing
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5.0/5
Absolutely fabulous a must see when visiting NZ.
Everyone that worked at White Island Tours are very passionate and knowledgeable. Don't visit without doing this tour it truly is a trip of a lifetime.
Hi Amanda,
We're so happy to hear that you enjoyed your visit to White Island with us, and thank you for taking the time to write this review and share your experience. You're kind recommendation is very much appreciated also!
witmarketing
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Hi Monique,
Thank you for your review - we're pleased to hear that you received "top service" during your visit to White Island. That is something we're most proud of!
witmarketing
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4.5/5
A very well organised tour with great care taken with respect to the safety aspects.
A good close encounter with the type of volcano that doesn't spew lava - mainly sulphur and steam. Heaps of information from the Guides. Not for the faint hearted getting on and off the landing boats. An exciting day all round. Not to be missed.
Hi Alison,
Thank you for your comprehensive review. As you can imagine, lot of care and consideration goes into the safety aspect of our tours (we are on an active volcano afterall), so it was pleasing to hear that this did not go unappreciated! :)
witmarketing
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4.5/5
Expensive but worth.
Nice walk on the volcano with basic explanation. If you want to stay outside in the boat take a waterproof jacket. Lots of sick people. Stay outside in the middle of the boat!
Hi Sylvain,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We're happy to hear that you enjoyed your tour of White Island with us! Cheers!
witmarketing
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4.5/5
Great tour!
one of the highlights of our holiday. I could not hear the information from the skipper on the upper dek of the Peejay, the noice of the engines, the wind etc. was too loud and the volume too low. The bot, lunch and guides were perfect.
Hi R. Damen,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review! We're thrilled you had such a great time visiting White Island with us and that it was one of the highlights of your holiday!
witmarketing
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Hi Anais Roux,
Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We agree, White Island truly does feel like another world!!
It was great to hear you enjoyed your tour with us - thank you kindly for the 10/10!
witmarketing
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5.0/5
We had read about this trip before we left home.
It got great reviews which we can only endorse. It was an incredible experience! How many people can say they have walked on an active volcano?!
The company was very professional and staff extremely friendly and helpful, allowing us to change our booking depending on the weather, rang us when they said to confirm the times, The lunch pack was generous and tasty.
The boat trip was great and the guided walk on the island was amazing!! Most importantly, our guide Hayden was excellent, knowledgeable, informative and personable.
It was the highlight of our trip to NZ.
Hi Michelle,
We're so pleased that you had such a great time visiting White Island with us. It was particularly pleasing to hear that you found our staff to be so helpful, accommodating and knowledgeable! Visiting White Island is a truly unique experience, one that we were so pleased we got to share with you.
Thank you for the kind review and recommendation - we hope you enjoyed the rest of your travels!
witmarketing
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4.5/5
Awesome!
Lots of dolphins on our 1.5 hour boat trip to White Island. Great experience to walk over an active volcano. Paradise to take photos! For $200 per person lunch should be better!
Hi Luisa and Hannes, it was great to hear that you had such an enjoyable time visiting White Island with us, taking in the abundant marine life along the way.
We thank you for your feedback on the lunches. We realise that everyone has different tastes in food and have developed a packed lunch that is suitable (and hopefully enjoyed) by the majority. You may have noticed that it is fully vegetarian and also contains a number of components so that people are able to pick and choose the bits that they like from it. Unfortunately, the logistics of serving lunch 49km out to sea at an active volcano do limit us a little. For those that do want to add to their food options, we have a great selection of food in our café that can be purchased before the tour and taken aboard. Thanks again for visiting us and we hope to see you again in the future.
witmarketing
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Hi Chloe,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your review. It was great to hear that you found the tour to White Island to be so impressive. We hope you enjoyed the rest of your visit to Whakatane and travels.
witmarketing
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3.5/5
White Island was beautiful and the trip out there was too.
We stopped two times to watch dolphins.
Thank you for your review - we're glad you enjoyed your visit to White Island.
witmarketing
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4.5/5
We had a good (was a bit seasick) time on the boat, while watching dolphins and on the island itself.
The crew was very friendly and helpful and also the guide was pretty nice.
Hi Anna, thank you for taking the time to review your tour with us. Sorry to hear that you were a little seasick but happy that you enjoyed your day with us!
witmarketing
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3.5/5
Amazing volcano in the middle of the ocean.
The way in might be hard if the waves are big, but totally worth it. Guides are going fast but take time to enjoy.
Hi Florian, thank you for visiting White Island with us and thank you for taking the time to leave a review.
witmarketing
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4.0/5
Kinda expensive, which is the only down point to it.
You definitely get a big package for the money. Walking the island felt pretty surreal, so cool! The team took good care and was really fun and you get a lunch package.
Hi Luca, thank you for leaving a review. We're glad you agree that the tour is good value for money despite the cost.
witmarketing
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4.0/5
Nice thing to do but quite expensive.
Boat trip is really long but great chance to see dolphins (sometimes even whales).
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3.5/5
Amazing nature with a nice little boat trip, but it was really expensive and our guide was talking in a bored way.
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4.0/5
Nice trip to a natural volcanic island.
From Whakatane reached by boat (3 hours return), approximately 2 hours spent walking on the island with a guide. Pretty bad smell mostly, worth it.
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3.5/5
It was nice discovering the island but the company said the tour included the dolphins to watch but we only saw two dolphins in the distance.
So it was expensive just to see the island.
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3.5/5
Had a good time, a little pricey though.
I have to admit I thought I was going to see burning hot lava :) haha shows how much I know about marine volcanoes lol
An enjoyable boat ride there and information provided was interesting.
A nice walk around island and talk by guides.
Very smelly due to sulphur (stirred up my asthma quite a bit)
A good experience though.
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4.0/5
It was awesome, we were sailed to and guided on White Island, the guides were amazing but I feel like they could have shown us more.
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4.5/5
Good informative guides, excellent venue.
Very different lunch provided plus sick bags and flannels!
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4.0/5
Only marked down because it's very expensive and there are definitely times to avoid doing this trip.
If you get the right day, then even at the high price this rates as one of the best day trips you can have in this part of the country. Don't go after (or during) windy days or rough seas as the long boat ride becomes a misery with your fellow seasick companions. Best time to go is on a calm sunny day in December through Jan and early Feb following days of settled weather. At this time of year you'll be unlucky not to see flying fish, dolphin, schooling fish, have a swim off the boat at the island, and of course White Island is at its best. If you're lucky you'll also see pilot whales, orca, bottlenose dolphin, and be exhausted (don't plan to travel far afterwards) after a day in the sun and salt air.
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3.5/5
Really nice views, perfect weather, awesome experience.
Price is definitely too high.
