How to get around Waiheke Island

The island is big enough that it can take 45 minutes to drive from the Matiatia Ferry Terminal to Man O War vineyard on the opposite side of the island, but it’s still small enough that you can easily catch public transport or even walk between attractions.

All it takes is a 40-minute ferry ride for you to reach an island of sunshine, wine, beaches, and exceptional food. How can you get between all these delights?

Here’s how to navigate transport to and around Waiheke Island.

• How to get around Waiheke Island

  • Public bus

  • Hop-on Hop-off bus

  • Car rental on Waiheke

  • Taxis and shuttles

  • Wine tours

  • Walking

  • Bicycle

• Getting around the wineries on Waiheke

Catching the ferry to Waiheke Island is easy, fast, and convenient. There are two passenger ferries that depart from the downtown Auckland ferry terminal:

• Island Direct ($50 return) is a small, local ferry which you can book online in advance. I recommend this option as it’s far less busy onboard and you’re guaranteed to get on at your chosen time.

• The Fullers passenger ferry ($55 return) also leaves from Britomart in central Auckland, but the regular ticket is walk up only (you have to pay more for a reserved time) which means queuing up at the terminal. It’s pretty busy and in peak times you might not get on the sailing you want, unless you arrive 30 minutes in advance. Ferries leave approximately every hour from 6am-midnight, and there’s no need to pre-book a ticket. Tip: Buy your ticket online to save money. The online price is $55 and it’s $59 at the terminal.

  Another option to save money is to travel off peak. A return ticket is only only $29.50 return when depart from downtown Auckland to Waiheke Island after 1pm onwards, and return from Waiheke Island to downtown Auckland after 7pm.

  This still gives you time to visit a couple of wineries, enjoy a sunset and dinner, and travel back — or stay overnight.

If you’d like to get around Waiheke in your own car, there is also the option of taking the Sealink car ferry across to the island.

What is there to do on Waiheke? Take your pick — you can be social or secluded, high end or low key, fashionable or laid-back.

Here are a few of my favourite Waiheke Island activities.

Visit Waiheke’s vineyards

Obsidian winery, a nice laid back option

The Shed at Te Motu, great for dining

The first and undoubtedly most popular thing to do on Waiheke is visit one of the island’s boutique vineyards.

I prefer the smaller vineyards over the flashier numbers like Cable Bay, or the beer-garden-and-games vibe of Wild Estate.

My favourite vineyard spots are Casita Miro, which lays out bean bags and blankets under olive trees in their garden in the summer months, and Awaroa Winery, which completely won me over with a laid back setting and delicious Pinot Gris.

You can take a tour around several of the vineyards, or choose just one for a long and lazy lunch.

Mudbrick is a popular choice for this, with outdoor seating at the Bistro overlooking lavender scented gardens and views of Auckland city. But Te Motu or Tantalus also have stellar restaurants.

Just be sure to book ahead — come the weekend, people flock to the island from Auckland, looking for an end of the week escape.

BOOK A WINE TOUR:

The easiest way to get around Waiheke’s vineyards is to book a wine tour.

That way, you’ll get to see the highlights, tick off several tastings, and not have to worry about transport when you’re stumbling out to the carpark of the third vineyard you visit.

• Waiheke Island Wine Tours will take you around three of the vineyards, an excellent way to see the island’s highlights.

• Kiwi Connect will take you to the lesser visited eastern end of the island, which is great if you like to get beyond the well trodden path. They also use electric vans, which is great.

VISITING THE VINEYARDS ON A BUDGET:

The cheapest way to get around is via public bus.

Buses leave from right outside the ferry terminal and connect the main centres of the island, so you can get around pretty easily. Use the AT Journey Planner to see all your options.

Many of the vineyards are clustered together, so you can actually walk in between them.

From Tantalus, it’s only a five minute walk to Wild on Waiheke or a 15 minute walk to Te Motu Vineyard.

IF YOU’RE SHORT ON TIME:

The Waiheke Island Wine Centre in Oneroa has an excellent selection of wines from all over the island.

The team in store has a vast amount of local knowledge, and you can do a wine tasting in the shop — this is a great option if the vineyards are closed, or you don’t have time to visit multiple vineyards.

Most people arrive on Waiheke Island at the Matiatia Ferry Terminal.

At the terminal you’ll find some useful information on getting around the island, and you can also pick up a map from here to help you navigate.

As the main transport hub of the island, you can also catch the bus, rent bicycles, cars, or walk directly from the terminal to where you want to go.

Car rental on Waiheke

Hiring a car on Waiheke can be worth it if you’re staying for a few days. Some of the more remote accommodation options vineyards and restaurants, like Man O’War and Poderi Crisci, are hard to get to without a car.

The cost of taking a taxi to Poderi Crisci is around $100, so the cost of getting there and back in a taxi is likely higher than renting a car for a couple of days.

This depends on the availability of rental cars on the island though — during peak times there is limited supply and prices can surge.

If you’re only going for one night though, I’d say car rental isn’t worth it.

Catching taxis between locations or booking a shuttle can be more cost effective, especially if you’re in a group, and if gives everyone in your group freedom to do wine tastings.

Plus you get the benefit of a friendly local driver.

If you do want a car, check out Waiheke Car Rentals.

Wine tours on Waiheke

Booking a tour is the easiest and safest way of getting around if you want to visit vineyards.

For my sisters hen’s party we had a small bus that shuttled us from our Airbnb to various vineyards and then back again. It meant no one had to think about coordinating taxis while a few wines deep.

Wine tours can also take you further from the main route, so you can explore vineyards like Passage Rock and Batch winery (two of the vineyards we went to on our tour).

As well as being a bit more removed from the crowds, you get to enjoy the scenic drives there and back.

A couple of wine tour providers are (and yes, they are all creatively named):

Ananda Tours, Enjoi, The Wine Tasting Company, Waiheke Wine Tours, Waivino, Heke Bus.

Taking the public bus on Waiheke

The easiest and cheapest way to get to most places on Waiheke is by the AT public bus system. Buses on Waiheke are pretty efficient and make getting around without a car straightforward.

You can catch the bus as soon as you get off the ferry at Matiatia — they depart from right outside the terminal.

Just don’t hang around the terminal for too long, the buses leave quite soon after the ferry arrives and they aren’t very frequent, so miss it and you might have to wait a while for the next one.

The great thing about buses on Waiheke is that the whole island is classed as a single zone, so any one bus trip will only cost $2.37 for an adult (there are concessions for people 24 years and younger and tertiary students).

If you take a series of buses — with no more than 30 minutes between trips — it still counts as one trip. So you can catch multiple connecting buses around the island for the single fare of $2.37.

Another awesome thing is that the buses are fully electric. They are fairly quiet and unobtrusive on Waiheke’s narrow roads.

One important thing to note: You need an AT HOP card to pay for buses on Waiheke. They don’t accept cash or cards.

You can pick up a HOP card at the ferry terminal in Britomart or on Waiheke.

Note that if you’re travelling in a group, it is possible to use one HOP card. you can’t scan on three people with the same card, but you can ask the driver to issue paper tickets for everyone in your group using the credit on the HOP card.

Essentially, you can’t pay onboard with a credit/debit card or cash, but you can pay for tickets with HOP credit.

If in doubt, just ask the bus driver! They are usually friendly locals who are happy to help, and answer questions about where to get off for different wineries.

And don’t forget, in New Zealand we love to say thanks to the driver as we hop off the bus :)

The buses will get you to most key points on the island, like Oneroa, Ostend, and Onetangi. They even go right past some of the most famous vineyards, such as Wild Estate and Tantalus Estate.

When I went to Waiheke with a large group — around 13 people from memory — we used public buses. It’s a bit slower, but if you have no fixed schedule and a bit of patience, it’s easier than trying to coordinate shuttles big enough for the whole group.

Check the AT website for timetables and destinations, or plug your trip into the AT Journey Planner.

Hop-on Hop-off bus on Waiheke

Fullers offers a Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus option. It costs $89 if you add this to the ferry ticket (so you get your return ferry trip and island transport in the one ticket).

The bus stops at 17 points around the island so it can be a good way to explore. However, the route isn’t vastly different from the public bus network (it basically loops from the ferry terminal to Onetangi and back).

The main advantage of the Hop-On Hop-Off bus is getting to some of the more remote vineyards, such as Mudbrick and Batch Winery, so it’s worth it if you want to get a little further off the beaten track (Mudbrick is a 30 minute walk up a hill from the nearest public bus stop).

You can still reach these vineyards via a combination of public bus and walking if you’re on a budget, but you’ll need to be willing walk from the public bus stop to the wineries.

Here is the Hop-on Hop off bus route map:

— Here’s the brochure with the timetables and stops.

Taxis and shuttles on Waiheke

In between buses, taxis are a convenient way of getting around Waiheke when travelling in a group.

On one occasion when I visited Waiheke with a small group of friends, we stayed in a bach in Ostend and hopped between wineries using taxis. Split between six, the cost was very reasonable.

However, taking multiple taxis can get expensive. For example, getting from Matiatia Ferry Terminal to Onetangi Beach is approximately $60, Batch Winery $65 and Poderi Crisci $95. Visit our Trusted Taxis Here.

There is no Uber, Ola, or other rideshare service on Waiheke. Taxis and shuttles are a convenient alternative.

How to get around Waiheke Island without a car

There are many options to explore Waiheke Island without a car. Public buses meet the ferry from Auckland and connect Matiatia Ferry Terminal with Oneroa Village, Onetangi Beach, and Palm Beach.

It’s also easy to ealk from the ferry to Oneroa (20 minutes), or between some of the vineyards and around the coast of the island. Taxi and shuttle services, or the Waiheke Explorer hop-on-hop-off bus, can also help you get around Waiheke if you have a more flexible budget.

Some of the things you can do on Waiheke without a car include:

• Heading to the beach at Oneroa or Onetangi

• Enjoying coastal walks — follow Te Ara Hura trails

• Checking out the shops and restaurants in Oneroa, the main village

• Go wine tasting at vineyards on the public bus routes

It’s surprisingly easy to walk around Waiheke.

From the ferry terminal, you can walk to Oneroa in about 25 minutes. There is a lovely track through regenerating native bush, or you can follow the road.

You can walk through the village or down to Oneroa beach, which is one of my favourite beaches in Auckland.

A lot of the vineyards are within walking distance of each other, like Tantalus, Wild on Waiheke, and Te Motu. There are little shortcuts between Tantalus, Stonyridge, and Te Motu, which makes walking between them even easier.

If you’re staying in Onetangi, you can walk to Casita Miro or Obsidian Wines, which are linked with a shortcut around the vines in summer.

When we stayed in Ostend, we were only a 30-minute walk from Palm Beach.

You could actually walk around the whole island, if you wanted to.

The Te Ara Hura trial network traces a loop around the coast and sections of it make excellent Auckland day walks. Start from the ferry terminal and head to your left, and you’ll end up in Oneroa via a scenic coastal walk.

Cycling around Waiheke is a great way of getting around. You can take your bike on the ferry free of charge, so one option can be to take your own two wheels!

The island isn’t too hilly and there isn’t a lot of traffic, so you can cycle around Waiheke.

You can also hire e-bikes from E-Ride Waiheke.

They have a convenient location right at the ferry terminal in Matiatia, so you can stop by and talk to them or pick up your bicycle from there.

The best way to get around the wineries on Waiheke Island is to book a wine tour. Your guide will pick you up from the ferry and you won’t have to worry about navigating buses while tipsy after the tastings.

If you’re on a budget, you can use a combination of transport options. Catch the ferry across to the island and hop on a public to get to where you want to go.

Then walk to one or two other wineries, before catching a taxi to your accommodation, or back to the ferry.

You don’t want to have to navigate public transport after a few wines!

If you would like to see some of the more remote vineyards on Waiheke, like Man O War or Poderi Crisci, and you’re travelling with a group, then book a wine tour. It will save you a lot of effort and time trying to coordinate everyone.

If you really want to explore Waiheke, stay for one or two nights. This will give you more time to get to different corners of the island, and you get to enjoy island life for longer.

Read the full article here.