Waiheke ferry tickets and tours, cheapest first
The ladder, cheapest first
Eight things you can buy for a day on Waiheke, in price order. Two of them are the crossing. The rest are the crossing plus a plan, or a plan without the crossing, and telling those two apart is the entire trick.
- Return fast ferry ticket — NZ$62. The crossing to Matiatia and back, valid a month, and nothing else. That is exactly the operator’s published on-peak adult return, so there is no markup on it. The off-peak return is NZ$46.50 and you buy it direct.
- Ferry and hop-on hop-off Explorer bus — NZ$99. Return ferry plus a day pass on a 16-stop bus. The most-booked product on this site by a distance, 3,774 reviews. Tastings at the wineries the bus stops at are not included.
- Premium eBike, self-guided — NZ$119, and the ferry is not in it. Four and a half hours from Matiatia Wharf, which means you have to already be on the island. Real cost once you have crossed: NZ$165.50–181. Ages 12 and up, minimum height 145cm, and you need to be able to ride a bike. Only 35 reviews, so read them rather than the rating.
- Wineries’ tour — NZ$185. Six hours, maximum ten people, four or more vineyards with a tasting at each and a lunch break of about an hour and a half. The ferry pass is included. Lunch is not.
- Scenic wine journey, four vineyards — NZ$190. Five hours, ferry ticket included, guide meets you at Matiatia at 10:40am. Minivan or double-decker and two or four wineries depending which option you pick. Lunch is an optional extra you buy on the day.
- Taste of Waiheke day tour — NZ$240. Five and a half hours, round-trip ferry, private bus, tastings at two vineyards, an olive-oil tasting at an olive grove and a two-course lunch that is genuinely in the price. Departs the Auckland ferry terminal, piers 11 and 12.
- Wine tour with beachfront lunch — NZ$290, and the ferry is not in it. Five hours, three boutique vineyards in the Onetangi Valley, lunch at a beachfront restaurant with a glass of local wine. Starts and ends at Matiatia. Real cost: NZ$336.50–352.
- Gourmet food and wine tour — NZ$315, and the ferry is not in it either. The highest-rated thing on the site at 4.9, and the dearest by some way once you add the crossing: NZ$361.50–377. Two boutique vineyards, oysters from Te Matuku Bay, olive oil, beer and whisky, and a family-style vineyard lunch. Starts at Matiatia at 9:45am.
Every ticket and tour, side by side
Prices are per person and were read on 12 August 2026. The ones marked as including the ferry genuinely do; the three that are not marked leave Matiatia and assume you got there yourself.
The ferry itselfFrom Auckland: Waiheke Island Return Fast Ferry Ticket
Most bookedReturn ferry includedWaiheke Island: Ferry & Hop-On Hop-Off Explorer Bus Tickets
Car-freeWaiheke Island: Premium eBike Adventure & Self-Guided Tour
Best value wine dayFerry pass includedFrom Auckland: Waiheke Island Wineries’ Tour
Four vineyardsFerry ticket includedAuckland: Waiheke Island Scenic Wine Journey 4 Vineyards
Food-ledReturn ferry includedFrom Auckland: Taste Of Waiheke Island Day Tour
Beachfront lunchAuckland: Waiheke Wine Tour + Tastings + Beach front Lunch
Top ratedWaiheke Island Gourmet Food and Wine Tour with Lunch
The column nobody else prints: is the ferry in the price?
This is where the money quietly goes. A tour that starts at Matiatia has already assumed you are standing on Waiheke, and getting there costs NZ$46.50 off-peak or NZ$62 on-peak on top of the sticker price. Two of the three tours that do this are the most expensive on the site, which makes the gap wider, not narrower. Here are three days out that look about a hundred dollars apart and are not.
| Waiheke Island: Premium eBike Adventure & Self-Guided Tour | Ferry in the priceFrom Auckland: Waiheke Island Wineries’ Tour | Waiheke Island Gourmet Food and Wine Tour with Lunch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sticker price | NZ$119 | NZ$185 | NZ$315 |
| Ferry included? | No | Yes — ferry pass | No |
| Real all-in cost | NZ$165.50–181 | NZ$185 | NZ$361.50–377 |
| How long | 4.5 hours | 6 hours | 5 hours |
| Starts | Matiatia Wharf | Waiheke ferry terminal | Matiatia, 9:45am |
| Lunch | Not included | Not included | Included |
| Rating | 4.6 · 35 reviews | 4.7 · 1,013 | 4.9 · 303 |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
The gourmet day is the best-reviewed thing here and I am not going to talk you out of it. I do want you to know it is a NZ$377 day if you take the 9am sailing the operator tells you to take, because 9am is on-peak. That is the number to compare against, not NZ$315.
Every fare on this page was read on 12 August 2026. Fullers360 revised its fares on 16 February 2026 and they have moved since, so confirm the current price on the operator’s own site before you travel. I update this page when I catch a change, not the moment one happens.
Most people only need the ferry
Eleven years of watching visitors arrive at Matiatia has not changed my view on this. The crossing is about forty minutes, there are roughly twenty-one sailings on a weekday, and you do not need to book. Buy the ticket, land, and decide on the wharf. If you want the numbers first, every fare is laid out here — child, family, off-peak and the second operator most guides forget. If you want the day organised for you without a guide talking, the 16-stop bus pass does that. And if the point of the trip is the wine, the five guided days are compared by what is actually in the price.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get to Waiheke Island?
The ferry ticket on its own, and the cheapest version of it is the off-peak adult return at NZ$46.50 — sailings leaving Auckland from 1pm and leaving Waiheke from 7pm. The on-peak adult return is NZ$62. Island Direct, the second passenger operator, is cheaper again on the headline fare at NZ$59 return. Fares checked 12 August 2026.
Do Waiheke tours leave from Auckland or from the island?
Both, and it matters. The ferry-and-bus combo, the wineries’ tour, the four-vineyards journey and the Taste of Waiheke day all start in Auckland with the crossing included. The eBike tour, the beachfront-lunch wine tour and the gourmet food tour all start at Matiatia on Waiheke, so you buy the ferry separately and add NZ$46.50 to NZ$62 to the price.
Do I need to book a Waiheke tour in advance?
The ferry itself, no — you can walk up and buy, though the operator is clear that buying online saves time and does not secure you a spot on walk-up services. Guided tours are a different matter: the wineries’ tour caps at ten people and the small-group food tours fill. More on the walk-up rule and the busy windows on whether you need to book.
Is a guided tour worth it if I only have one day?
If you want to drink and not think about buses, yes — a five to six hour tour is most of a day trip and somebody else drives. If you would rather move at your own pace, the ferry plus the bus pass costs less than half of any guided wine day. How much time you actually have depends on which sailing you catch, which is covered in how long you need on Waiheke.