Ferry Services

There are two ferry services to Waiheke. Fullers is passenger only and leaves from downtown Auckland City and arrives at Matiatia ferry terminal. This service takes approximately 40 minutes. Sealink is a vehicular ferry and leaves from Half Moon Bay in Auckland and arrives at Kennedy Point on Waiheke and takes 45-60 minutes. Schedules for all the ferry’s can be found online.

Weather

The land area of Waiheke Island is 92 km2, with a relatively long coastline of 133 km. The surrounding ocean, and associated sea breezes, moderate rising temperatures in mid-summer, while the ocean moderates falling temperatures at night. On average, Waiheke's temperatures are up to a degree warmer than in Auckland city, while the rainfall is about three-quarters of that measured in the city.  Our weather station monitors and records local conditions.

Birds

Eating & Drinking

Wineries

*dinner option

Mudbrick* • Cable Bay* • Jurassic Ridge • Obsidian • Casita Miro* • Man O' War • PoderiCrisci • Goldies 

• Peacock Sky • Kennedy Point • Passage Rock • Te Motu* • Stonyridge* • Wild on Waiheke • Frenchmans Hill Estate • Batch • Tantalus • Waiheke Island Wine  

Restaurants    
Fenice • Vino Vino • Oyster Inn • Ki Maha • Oneroa Beach Club •  Ajadz • Red Crab • Stefanos • The Courtyard • Archive Bistro

Pub/Winebar
Charlie Farley's • Malones • Ted's Brew Bar • Alibi Brewery • Aperitivo

Casual/CafeDelight • Wai Kitchen • Solar

TakeawayThe Local (Fish & Chips) • Adjadz (Indian) • Red Crab (Thai) • Too Fat Buns (Burgers) • Sing Tao Chinese Takeaways • DragonFired (Pizza) • Island Pizza & Burgers

Transportation

Taxis

WaiCabs (ph 0800-942-222) • Island Taxis (ph 0800-372-4111) • Easy Shuttles (ph 022 612-6760)•

Executive Taxis (ph 0800-372-200) •

Rental cars

Waiheke Rental Cars    Waiheke Auto Rentals

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Tours

Ananda Tours   Waiheke Wine, Beer & BBQ Tours  Enjoi Tours

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Walks

There are a lot of beautiful bush, coastal  and beach walks on Waiheke. Walking tours can be booked here or you can do it alone by following some of the maps available here. The annual walking festivall is a fantastic, FREE, nine day event that takes place in November every year.

With approximately fifty walks covering a range of topics, terrain and duration there really is something for almost every age and fitness level. 

Art

Waiheke was once known a the Island of Art due to the number of artists here.  Every two years the Sculpture on the Gulf  sees  contemporary outdoor sculpture placed on a walkway near Matiatia. The Waiheke Community Art Gallery represents artists from across NZ as well as some local artists.   The Toi Gallery  and SPACE in Oneroa have fabulous work. Many artists have open studios on Waiheke including a  shoe maker (Sue Engels), Christine the goldsmith, and many more. A studio artist map is available form the Waiheke Community Art Gallery. 

Beaches

With its calm waters dotted with yachts, Matiatia’s pretty bay is the first view of Waiheke for many visitors. Matiatia is home to the island’s main ferry terminal, with an information kiosk, café and bus and taxi services. Situated at the western end of Waiheke, it’s just a 5-minute drive to Oneroa village. The beach is stoney and the bay is generally calm..

Oneroa Bay is one of Waiheke’s most celebrated beaches and a popular and safe anchorage for boaties seeking shelter from the predominant sou’wester winds. At holiday weekends, in particular Christmas and New Year, the bay at night is a veritable fairy grove of masthead lights. It’s a lovely crescent shaped beach with a grass verge and large pohutukawa trees. These are especially beautiful when in flower in December.

Little Oneroa is a small beach situated at the Eastern end of Oneroa Bay and within walking distance of Oneroa Village. This little beach has everything – free BBQ’s, a children’s playground, an enormous grass area and a pristine white beach. Across the road from the beach is the Little Oneroa Beach Store, and a takeaway serving burgers and fish and chips. The stream that runs down to the beach is a favourite of ducks but should be avoided by people as it is polluted. Locals are currently working to fix the issues feeding into the stream.

Onetangi Beach, 2.5 km’s of beautiful white sand and Waiheke’s largest beach. Onetangi is also home to the Onetangi Beach Races, which has been going for over 100 years. A great swimming and fishing beach with superb surf when the northerly blows. With 2 bar / restaurants on the waters edge, Charlie Farleys and Fourth Avenue Cafe, Onetangi Beach is a nice place to hang out for the day. A bus goes to here from the ferry or Oneroa.

White sands, safe swimming and good anchorage, Palm Beach is another of Waiheke’s pristine northern beaches. Sheltered from the SW wind this popular beach has all day sun. There are two BBQ areas, one in the reserve on the far eastern end of the beach, the other right next to the great “pirate ship” children’s playground. “Nudey Bay” is a small bay at the far western end of Palm Beach frequently used for nude swimming and sun worshipping. Palm Beach can be reached by bus or car.

Set on a peaceful rocky beach, Blackpool is a small village just a short walk from Oneroa village. The bay is a popular spot for sea kayaking, and with views stretching across the Hauraki Gulf and back to Auckland city in the distance it’s a great place to watch the sunset.

Home to a sandy, shaded beach, Surfdale is a favourite spot for windsurfers, with a frequent breeze to set the sails and a sandy bottom to protect the feet. Surfdale has a small range of shops, services and restaurants.

Set around a leafy southern bay, this peaceful suburb is graced with thick native bush and three sheltered coves. Popular with artists and boaties, Rocky Bay has wonderful views across the Hauraki Gulf and has plenty of scenic bush walks, a playground and Māori pa site.

Man O’ War Bay is located on the eastern side of Waiheke, commonly referred to as ‘The Bottom End’. A popular bay for anchorage, Man O’ War Bay is on the isolated side of the island. A Department of Conservation walking track leads up to the historic site, Stony Batter. One of the islands well known wineries is also here.

On the south side of the Waiheke Island, Whakanewha Regional Park is known for its mature coastal forest with taraire, kohekohe and old kanuka trees, cascading streams, and sweeping crescent-shaped beach cut in two by a forested headland. A large wetland is home to some uncommon birds, bittern, banded rail, spotless crake and the New Zealand dotterel.  At high tide the water is shallow, warm and ideal for children. Picnic spots on the foreshore are plentiful. At low tide a broad expanse of sandy tidal flats is revealed. The beach is divided into two sections by the pa promontory.  Whakanewha is a 20 minute drive from Oneroa.

Activities

• Browse and nibble your way around the Saturday morning market in Ostend. 

• Play a round of golf at the Waiheke Golf Course.

• Have a go at lawn bowling in Surfdale.

• Walk the Tarata Track (an interpretative forest walk) to the Cascades waterfall in Whakanewha Regional Park (located near Batch Winery).

• Hire a sea kayak at Matiatia.

• Contact Walking By Nature for a personalised guided walking tour of Waiheke.

• Charter a fishing boat.

• Try your hand on a stand up paddle board.

• Visit Wild on Waiheke and have a go at archery or laser claybird shooting, or beer tasting.

• Visit the Waiheke Museum and Historic Village

• Visit Whittaker's Musical Museum in Oneroa.

• Select your favourite couch from the quirky collection and catch a movie at the Waiheke cinema.

• Hire a DVD from the local video store, or choose from our select library of films.

• Visit the local library.

• Pamper yourself with a massage from one of the local health spas or have a massage in our accomodation by Sonia Pecenkova (phone 02102605277).

• Consult one of the local newspapers for any local theatre productions.

• Visit the highly regarded Te Matuku Bay Oysters shop.

• Plan a visit to Connells Bay Sculpture Park