Pick your boat home before you pick your beach. Explore Group's Ōtehei Bay ferry leaves Paihia five times a day in summer, calls at Russell ten minutes later and reaches Urupukapuka Island in about 40 minutes; the last sailing back leaves the island at 17:45. Book a return, zip every bag shut and leave the dog at home, because the island is pest-free and DOC intends to keep it so.
Explore's summer schedule, running daily from September with no end date given; checked 2 October 2026 Explore Group – Otehei Bay Ferry · 2026-10-02
Think of the Ōtehei Bay ferry as one route with two places to get on. It starts at Paihia Wharf, collects passengers at Russell Wharf in Kororāreka ten minutes later and lands at Ōtehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island, a DOC recreation reserve in the eastern Bay of Islands. Explore Group runs it, alongside its Hole in the Rock cruises.
This is a ferry you get off, not a sightseeing loop: you choose your boat back. On the island there are walking tracks, sheltered beaches for swimming, the licensed Otehei Bay Café & Bar and, in summer, kayaks and paddleboards for hire. An adult return costs from $70.
Explore's page is the only published timetable, and DOC points visitors to it. Because it warns of limited departures without naming them, book a seat online or by phone before walking down to the wharf.
Explore sells the crossing as a return ticket, and every price on its page starts with 'from', so expect the figure to depend on the sailing you choose. Explore's child band covers ages 5–15, sixteen-year-olds already pay as adults, and preschoolers under five go without a ticket. The ticket covers the boat and access to the island's tracks and beaches; food, kayaks and camping are paid separately.
No second official source publishes these figures, so treat the booking screen as the final word. Explore does not say whether they include GST.
| Adult, 16 and over (from) | $ 70 |
| Child, 5 to 15 (from) | $ 40 |
| Family pass, 2 adults and 2 children (from) | $ 180 |
Return ferry prices on Explore's Otehei Bay Ferry page, read 2 October 2026; shown as 'from' prices with no validity dates Explore Group – Otehei Bay Ferry prices · 2026-10-02
From Paihia the boat crosses to Russell, then heads out into the eastern Bay of Islands to Urupukapuka, one of the islands of Ipipiri that Project Island Song is restoring as a pest-free sanctuary. Explore gives the trip as about 40 minutes each way. Like every boat going out to the islands, it passes through Te Pēwhairangi, the Bay of Islands Marine Mammal Sanctuary.
Paihia Wharf is where the ferry starts. Explore's booking office is in the Maritime Building at 69 Marsden Road, the road the wharf comes off, so ask there if you have not booked online. Coming from Kororāreka / Russell instead? Board at Russell Wharf on The Strand, ten minutes after each Paihia departure.
The ferry ties up at the wharf in Ōtehei Bay, the bay Explore spells Otehei. The beachfront café and bar is here, as is kayak and paddleboard hire in summer, and from 26 December to 6 February DOC opens a conservation centre in the bay with displays on the island's history and Project Island Song.
Open bags and boxes are refused on board. Check your gear for mice, rats, Argentine ants and plague skinks, and brush soil and seeds off shoes and clothing before you leave the mainland.
Dogs, cats and any other pets are banned from the Bay of Islands island reserves, and Urupukapuka is one of them.
Day visitors may not carry alcohol on the ferry; the licensed café at Ōtehei Bay sells drinks to enjoy in its own area. Campers must declare any alcohol, which travels separately, and may be asked for their DOC camping permit.
Gas bottles and fuel, even empty ones, travel apart from passengers. Each sailing takes at most two certified gas bottles of 9 kg or less, four dive bottles, and 20 litres of fuel in approved containers.
The island's three campsites are run by DOC, not by Explore, so the ferry ticket and the campsite are separate bookings.
If you spot a rat, mouse, stoat, cat or dog on the island, or its tracks or droppings, call DOC on 0800 362 468.
Ferry or cruise? Explore's Discover the Bay cruise leaves Paihia at the same 10:00 and Russell at 10:10, heads out to Cape Brett and, sea permitting, through Motukōkako, the Hole in the Rock, then stops for an hour and a half at Ōtehei Bay with lunch included. Morning cruise passengers can stay longer and come back on a later ferry at no extra charge if they arrange it with Explore's reservations team. Explore also runs the ferry to Tiritiri Matangi near Auckland, where visitors face similar pest checks before boarding.
No boat on the timetable? DOC says water taxis run to the island on demand all year, weather permitting, and the Paihia i-SITE takes bookings for them. Private boats can launch from ramps around the eastern bay, from Waitangi to Te Uenga Bay and Kaimarama Bay.
From Paihia Wharf, with a stop at Russell Wharf ten minutes later. On the way back it drops passengers at Russell or Paihia.
From Paihia at 08:30, 10:00, 11:30, 14:00 and 17:00, and from Russell ten minutes after each. Boats leave Ōtehei Bay at 10:45, 12:15, 13:45, 16:15 and 17:45.
Explore lists return fares from $70 for an adult and from $40 for a youngster of school age (Explore's child band is 5–15), with under-fives free. A family pass for two adults and two children starts at $180.
About 40 minutes each way, according to Explore.
Yes, at one of three DOC campsites, which you book with DOC. Declare any alcohol, gas or fuel to the crew before boarding.
No. Urupukapuka is a pest-free reserve, so pets of any kind stay on the mainland.
Yes. The Otehei Bay Café & Bar at the bay is licensed and serves food and drinks.
Explore's page still shows the reduced winter schedule used until the end of August: one boat out at 10:00 from Paihia and 10:10 from Russell, back at 13:45 or 16:15. Dates for winter 2027 are not published yet.