Between Māpua and Moturoa / Rabbit Island the choice is simple. By car, the island is about 15 minutes from Richmond according to the ferry company, and its ferry landing is still 4.5 km by trail from the nearest car park. By boat, Kiwi Journeys' small ferry crosses from Māpua Wharf in about ten minutes, every hour of the day in summer, for $15.
Summer timetable from 26 September 2026 to May 2027 (no end date given), then winter weekends and holidays from May to September 2027; checked 2 October 2026 Mapua Ferry – ferry times and prices · 2026-10-02
The Māpua ferry carries passengers and bikes across the mouth of the Waimea Estuary. Kiwi Journeys owns and runs it from the Coolstores on Māpua Wharf, with backing from Tasman District Council, and it exists above all for the Great Taste Trail: riders coming along the coast from Rabbit Island use it to reach Māpua and carry on west. The company bills it as the only ferry crossing on a New Zealand cycle trail.
Set against last summer, three things are different. Fares went up after twelve years without a change; the daily season began on 26 September rather than 20 September; and the current table is on the ferry's own website, mapuaferry.co.nz, while Kiwi Journeys' page still shows the 2025/26 version, misprints included.
In summer the first boat leaves Māpua at 10:00 and the last at 17:00, one on each hour, with the return from Rabbit Island ten minutes past. From May 2027 the service shrinks to weekends, school holidays and public holidays, and stops an hour earlier.
Tickets are sold per person and per direction, and a return costs only a little more than a single. This season's prices are new: the company says it held the old fares for twelve years before raising them, and points regular riders to its six- and twelve-month passes.
The child category is worded three ways: under 12 in the fare list, 12 and under in the footnote, and 5 to 12 in the online booking system. Nothing says whether younger children travel free or whether the prices include GST, so ask if either matters.
| Adult, one way | $ 15 |
| Adult, return | $ 18 |
| Child, one way | $ 6 |
| Child, return | $ 8 |
| Student or senior, one way | $ 13 |
| Student or senior, return | $ 15 |
| Family (2 adults, up to 3 children), one way | $ 30 |
| Family (2 adults, up to 3 children), return | $ 35 |
| One adult and two children, one way | $ 20 |
| One adult and two children, return | $ 25 |
| Adult, six months | $ 85 |
| Adult, twelve months | $ 105 |
| Family, six months | $ 145 |
| Family, twelve months | $ 210 |
Fares on the Mapua Ferry website, read 2 October 2026; no validity dates are given Mapua Ferry – ferry prices · 2026-10-02
The route is barely more than a channel crossing. The boat leaves Māpua Wharf, crosses the outlet of the Waimea Estuary and lands at the western end of Rabbit Island, about ten minutes each way. The island is Tasman District Council land planted in pine, and the cycle trail runs from the landing through the forest. Look out on the estuary flats for white herons and royal spoonbills, two of the birds the ferry company mentions.
Māpua Wharf sits where the Waimea Estuary opens into Tasman Bay. There is no ticket office for the boat itself: you pay the skipper with EFTPOS or book a seat online, and Kiwi Journeys' base in the Coolstores building, 8 Aranui Road, handles bike hire and questions. With cafés, a brewery and galleries a few steps from the boat, this is the end of the crossing where waiting for the next hour is no hardship.
On the island side the ferry pulls in at the western tip, where the cycle trail reaches the water. Nobody can drive to this landing: the closest place to leave a car is 4.5 km away along the trail, so anyone walking from the island car park needs to set off well before the boat they want.
The boat was designed for cyclists and people on foot, and the fare list has no bike charge. Kiwi Journeys hires out bikes on Māpua Wharf if you arrive without one.
The ferry company warns that sailings may be called off in high winds. If you are riding towards Māpua from the island, the fallback is the trail back to the car park 4.5 km from the landing, or a pick-up arranged in advance.
The last summer departure from Māpua is 17:00. Two later departures from Rabbit Island are printed differently on the operator's two websites, so check them with the skipper before you count on one.
You can pay on board by EFTPOS. Online bookings come as two separate one-way products, Māpua to Rabbit Island and Rabbit Island to Māpua.
Extra crossings can be arranged for groups, and the boat can be hired for private functions. Kiwi Journeys quotes these directly.
Ferry or car? From Māpua itself the ferry is the quick way across, ten minutes on the water. From Richmond or Nelson the sums reverse: you can drive onto Rabbit Island for its 13 km tidal beach, with picnic tables, barbecues, changing rooms and toilets, without touching the boat. The ferry earns its place for cyclists on the trail and for anyone who wants Māpua's wharf and the island's beach in the same day. On the North Island, the Cathedral Cove water taxi from Hahei is another short summer beach shuttle, with one difference: there the boat is the only shoreline route while the walk to the cove stays closed.
Ferry or tour? Kiwi Journeys also sells Great Taste Trail packages, such as The Loop and Nelson to Mapua, that include a crossing. Those package prices are not ferry fares; the figures on this page are for the boat alone.
Yes. The summer timetable started on 26 September 2026 and the boat runs every day, first from Māpua at 10:00.
The current table has boats from Rabbit Island at ten past each hour. We list them up to 15:10, because the operator's two websites disagree about the last two. Ring 0800 292 538 or ask the skipper before relying on a later one.
An adult pays $15 one way or $18 return; a child $6 or $8; a student or senior $13 or $15. A family ticket for two adults and up to three children is $30 one way or $35 return.
No bike fare is listed. The boat was built to carry cyclists along with foot passengers.
Only at weekends, in school holidays and on public holidays, from May to September 2027, with the last boat from Māpua at 16:00.
Yes, through Kiwi Journeys' online booking system, with one booking for each direction. Walk-up passengers pay on board by EFTPOS.
Yes: an adult pass costs $85 for six months or $105 for twelve, and a family pass $145 or $210.