Rotorua Geothermal

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

We will be arriving in Rotorua via Viking Orion and would love to have a geothermal tour. The one that Viking offers includes a Maori guide and Maori culture things. We simply want a geothermal tour not a tribal cultural thing. (Sorry not meaning to offend anyone here, just not of interest to us but my husband being a scientist, would love to spend time seeing the geothermal activity.)  Am I correct in seeing that the geothermal area is about an hour away from where we are docking in Rotorua?  

 

Any suggestions anyone? 

[Aus Traveller]

You will be docking in Tauranga (or more precisely, Mt Manganui). It is about one and a half hours' drive from the geothermal area in Rotorua. It is inland. There are a few different thermal valleys that are rather different from each other. In addition to the ship's tours to Rotorua, there are private tours available on the dock. However, I am pretty sure they would each go to only one of the thermal attractions in the Rotorua area.

 

You can easily hire a car in Tauranga and drive to Rotorua. If this is someone you would feel comfortable doing, I mention the drive is easy and there is very little traffic on the roads. There are a few hire car companies in Tauranga. We have used Pegasus a few times. They bring the car to the wharf gates and you leave it there at the end of the day. Easy.

[cairns local]

I am interested in this too, thanks Aus Traveller for the info.  We will have a car/driver.  Which thermal valley would you recommend and do we need to book ahead.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

Yes thanks Aus Traveller….we are not inclined to rent a car although I'm sure it would be a lovely drive.  Y'all drive on the opposite side of the road and we're fairly certain that we'd head on the oncoming traffic at some point in the trip.  😟  I am interested to hear how Cool Cruiser got a driver. I looked at the tours offered at the port and they all appear to do the tribal culture thing at the same time.  

[Aus Traveller]

You do not have to book ahead for the thermal 'parks' at Rotorua. We like Te Puia. It has geysers, boiling mud pools, kiwi birds in a darkened building. They have a Maori cultural show at an extra cost. Anyone can watch the initial greeting that is outside the Meeting House where the main show is held. If you are driving I suggest taking the short detour to see the blue and green lakes (this is on the left after the McDonalds before you get to Rotorua). Rainbow Valley south of Rotorua is also good. If you driving yourself, you could do all of these in one day.

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, Sunflower & The Scient said:

Yes thanks Aus Traveller….we are not inclined to rent a car although I'm sure it would be a lovely drive.  Y'all drive on the opposite side of the road and we're fairly certain that we'd head on the oncoming traffic at some point in the trip.  😟  I am interested to hear how Cool Cruiser got a driver. I looked at the tours offered at the port and they all appear to do the tribal culture thing at the same time.  

Maybe one of the tour companies that sells tours on the dock would be prepared to do a custom tour for you. It could be a bit more expensive than the ship's tour, but you would see what you want. Have a look on the internet for companies that do tours to Rotorua from the Port of Tauranga.

[brian1]

We used Jim Archer,local guy with loads of knowledge.He came highly recommended on our roll call.

[cairns local]

Hi Sunflower.  We booked a car/driver through Shore Trip & Tours.  There is 9 of us in our group, so it works out quite economical.  I haven't used them before but reviews seem good and they have been easy to work with so far.  They did require payment up front, but I sort of expected that. 

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

Thanks everyone, will look into those options.