Spring is when the birds on Tiritiri Matangi are loudest, and October is a good month to go before the summer crowds book the boat out. Explore Group runs one return sailing a day from Wednesday to Sunday, leaving Viaduct Harbour and picking up at Gulf Harbour on the way. Count on about 80 minutes from the city, or 25 from Whangaparāoa, and $110 for an adult return.
Explore's current timetable, with no end date; DOC says a summer peak timetable starts on 26 December and runs to the third weekend of January, and it has not been published yet; checked 2 October 2026 Explore Group – Tiritiri Matangi Island ferry · 2026-10-02
Tiritiri Matangi is a wildlife sanctuary in the Hauraki Gulf, run as a scientific reserve by DOC with the volunteer Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi. The only public ferry is Explore Group's, which DOC says runs five days a week, Wednesday to Sunday, and fills up well ahead between November and April.
The season shapes the trip. From now until Christmas the timetable is fixed: a 09:00 departure from Viaduct Harbour on Wednesdays to Fridays and an 08:30 one on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. From 26 December DOC says Explore switches to a summer peak timetable until the third weekend of January, which has not been published yet.
Spring brings two extra trips. Explore's dawn chorus sailings, organised with the Supporters and DOC, leave Viaduct Harbour at 4:00am on Saturday 3 and Saturday 10 October for a guided walk as the birds wake up, and are sold separately from the regular ferry.
This is Explore's own fare, not an Auckland Transport one, even though AT lists the Gulf Harbour leg in its schedule data. AT says the SuperGold concession does not apply on the Tiritiri ferry, so seniors pay full price. Explore charges the adult fare from age 16; the child fare covers ages 5 to 15, and younger children are carried free.
The ticket is a return and includes the island's walking tracks and swimming beaches. A guided walk with one of the volunteer guides can be added when you book. Explore publishes no separate price for boarding at Gulf Harbour and does not say whether its prices include GST; no second official source lists these figures.
| Adult, 16 and over | $ 110 |
| Child, 5 to 15 | $ 55 |
| Family pass, 2 adults and 2 children | $ 275 |
| Adult | $ 15 |
| Child | $ 5 |
Prices on Explore's Tiritiri Matangi page, read 2 October 2026; no validity dates given Explore Group – Tiritiri Matangi ferry prices · 2026-10-02
The boat leaves Viaduct Harbour, runs north up the Gulf to Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparāoa Peninsula to collect passengers, and then makes the short hop to Tiritiri Matangi, which DOC places 4 km off the peninsula's coast. On the way home it stops at Gulf Harbour again before carrying on to the city.
The Tiritiri boat does not use the main Downtown ferry terminal: Explore boards it from its booking kiosk in Viaduct Harbour, at the end of Quay Street and diagonally across from the New Zealand Maritime Museum. The kiosk is open from 8am every day. For its dawn chorus trips Explore asks passengers to be at the wharf 15 minutes before departure, and the same margin makes sense for the regular sailing.
The ferry lands at the island's wharf, where there are toilets and the only spot near the landing where smoking is allowed, on the concrete. From here tracks climb to the lighthouse and visitor centre; the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi say the walks to the top take anything from 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the route.
DOC asks visitors to check, clean and seal their gear before leaving the mainland and to use the cleaning stations at the pier. It is after stowaways such as rats, mice, ants and plague skinks, plus any soil or seeds.
Pack lunch in sealed containers and close every bag: no open bags or supermarket bags. There is no food for sale on the island, and no rubbish bins, so take your waste home.
DOC bans pets from the Hauraki Gulf island reserves. The Rākino Island ferry is the Gulf crossing that does take dogs.
Tiritiri is a scientific reserve: stay on the main tracks, take nothing away, and do not play bird calls. Fires, portable barbecues and camping are not allowed.
AT counts 171 park-and-ride spaces at Gulf Harbour Marina and Hammerhead. The wharf sits at the far end of Laurie Southwick Parade, and AT's 988 bus runs from Pacific Plaza to meet ferries there.
Overnight guests in the island bunkhouse must bring DOC's completed biosecurity checklist and hand it to the ranger.
When is the island at its best? The Supporters' own calendar gives a reason for every season: kōwhai flowers and courtship displays in spring, when the dawn chorus is at its peak; red pōhutukawa and families of fledglings in early summer; birds in fresh plumage in autumn; flowering kohekohe and, with luck, nesting kororā, little penguins, in winter. Explore names kōkako, takahē, tīeke, kākā and hihi among the birds to look for.
What else does Explore run? In Auckland it also operates the weekday Bayswater commuter ferry for Auckland Transport, and in Northland the Ōtehei Bay ferry to Urupukapuka Island, another pest-free island where the same check-clean-seal routine applies.
Wednesday to Sunday, plus public holidays, Labour Day included, until the summer timetable starts on 26 December.
Departures are 09:00 Wednesday to Friday and 08:30 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It calls at Gulf Harbour at 09:55 or 09:25 respectively.
At 14:40 on Wednesdays to Fridays and 16:00 on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
An adult return is $110 and a child's, for ages 5 to 15, is $55; a family pass (two grown-ups, two kids) costs $275. A guided walk adds $15 for an adult or $5 for a child.
No. Auckland Transport says the SuperGold concession does not apply on the Tiritiri Matangi ferry.
No food is sold. The visitor centre shop near the lighthouse has cold drinks, and the Supporters offer free tea and coffee there.
At Explore's booking kiosk in Viaduct Harbour, at the end of Quay Street across from the Maritime Museum, not at the Downtown Ferry Terminal.
Yes. DOC says a summer peak timetable runs from 26 December to the third weekend of January. Explore had not published it on 2 October 2026.