Awesome experience! I’m a life long sailor and an avid watch of the AC, and had always wanted to sail on any America’s Cup boat - modern or more classic. This was such a treat. The crew and staff were knowledgeable and helpful, and very keen to have everyone onboard help out. It was a dream come true to get to skipper these boats around Auckland Harbour! Can not recommend it enough.

Good company good ferry the only bad thing from having 5 star is in the booking confirmation there was no address given. Took me half an hour to find where you were… from the ferry building. Good that you emphasised te reo maori in the cruise

Went whale watching today.. did not get to see one 🐋 but seeing dolphins, penguins, some marine birds and a cute seal was more than satisfying. 😁 The best part were the crew.. very relaxed, polite and sweet. They worked hard to scan the ocean with binoculars (left, right everywhere)and we got to see the 🐬 🐬 🐬 🐬 🐬 🐬 ...yay🎊👏👏👏 Along the way I got to know and understand the mountains, islands, light house, historic places etc... the crew explained it prefect.(a bonus) 👍 Definitely recommend this company if you're looking to go on such a trip. It's worth it. Thank you Explore group. Loved the journey with you. Cheers.

Highly recommend their America’s Cup Experience, an extremely rare and absolutely dope opportunity to get on an actual retired racing sailboat. The ride is educational yet very fun, staff are professional, funny, and helpful.

Enjoyed a wonderful dinner cruise. The tuna tartare canopes were to die for. Even got a chance to sail myself and got the boat damn near sideways. Amazing skipper with great knowledge of everything we talked about.

The dinner cruise was fantastic. The crew were friendly, a nice small group and the food was good.

Awazing day out on the water. The crew were amazing and made us feel welcome, were fun and informative. The Americas cup match racing experience was definitely a buzz! It's been a while since I have dealt with a company with the customer service experience offered by Explore. 10/10 ✔✔

Joined a guided walking tour on Tiritiri Matangi Island. It was an amazing experience. Shelley our guide was knowledgeable, I learned a lot from her. We were lucky to be able to see many different birds and a little penguin. It was a beautiful weather day to hike on this magical island. There was a gift shop near the lighthouse. I bought a few souvenir to support the sanctuary. Highly recommend this island tour.

I highly recommend taking the race sailing excursion on the Auckland Harbor. The crew does a great job of including you in the sailing and teaching you about race sailing history. The views are terrific. It is an incredible way to see the city and its surroundings.

Great experience sailing in the harbor! Beautiful views and action! The skipper and crew gives as a chance to experience how is it working on a sailing boat, and there was time for everyone to try and steer the boat. Great feeling passing under the bridge! I would say that’s just a bit pricey.

Dolphin and Whale safari was very good . On our first visit we weren’t able to see any Dolphin or whale so we were given a return voucher that we used last week on Saturday. It was fun with kids , saw huge no of dolphins and the boat is neat and tidy . Amazing experience. Hats off to you all

We did the Auckland Harbour Sailing and had such a fun time! The trip was lovely, and we enjoyed chatting with the captain and crew.

Went on the dinner sailing cruise. Top notch experience. Staff were great, very welcoming & friendly. Food however left a lot to be desired.

Always fun to get out on the water with whale watching (saw lots of dolphins but no other whales) but this had the added benefit of seeing the islands surrounding the Auckland Harbor. The tour we did was 4-hours which was quite the commitment with a 5-year-old but the staff did a stellar job of providing the kids with fun stuff to do. The food on the ship was pretty limited but we made it work. The alcohol on the other hand was great with lots of local selections.

I booked an America's Cup sailing trip weeks ago and the night before they cancelled it for no reason. Booked through Viator. Bummer! Weather is not bad. They will not even tell me why it was cancelled. Maybe they sold my ticket so someone else.

Absolutely blown away by the experience we had. The views to die for, the food was really nice and the staff felt like our friends by the end of it. I recommend taking time out of your holiday and making sure you do this! Fantastic memories to last a lifetime.

Wife and I did the American Cup boat experience boat. I have never been in a sailboat so had no expectations. I felt safe and at same time was in edge. Went on a gloomy day with rain but still a great experience.

It was an incredible experience to explore the Auckland islands and search for dolphins and whales.

Loved it. Jesse, Luke and i didnt catch the womans name, were amazing. Food was so good! Definitely will be doing it again!

Did the dinner cruise on Defiance yacht. Jessie and his two crew really looked after us. Drinks and canapes to start with followed by a lovely fish meal and Coffee brulee to finish. Weather was perfect, slight wind, still warm as sun had not set. Just sailed around the harbour for 2 hours taking in the sights. Would recommend if the weather is fine.

My husband and I had a fantastic time on the dinner cruise with Noel and Millie. They were keen to share their knowledge and have a chat which we really enjoyed. We had a great time steering the boat and taking photos of the Auckland scenery. The meal was very nice. We will definitely be recommending this trip to our family and friends.

My family and I had a great time on the America’s Cup sailing excursion. The crew was great, very friendly and talkative. It was awesome to get to be on a real America’s cup boat. We had nice winds, and my son and daughter got a chance to steer the boat! Would definitely recommend.

Great experience, crew were great company and the canapés were delicious, but for a “dinner” cruise, the dinner was absolutely atrocious. Definitely would not recommend if you have any intention of enjoying the “dinner” portion of the cruise.

The crews on board were friendly and efficient. As it was my first time finding the ticket office I entered the door to get my pass at 8:15. I was abruptly told the office was closed and would open at 8:30. I accepted that, but there is a way to deal with customers. Keep the door locked with hours on the door would have been better than snapping at me. Customer service needs some work.

Nice experience, good staff - talkative, friendly and helpful! Amazing view of the harbour so unreal only thing I felt could have made it 5 stars was the food - Like a hot main meal, appetisers were nice! We did try all the deserts we will just say the creme brulee was the only one we ate 😆

I have so many regrets about booking Explore Group's Tikapa Moana Whale & Dolphin Watching Cruise. It was billed as a seven hour cruise, including a 1.5 hour stopover at Tiritiri Matangi island. So we expected a 5.5 hour tour/cruise, which should be more than enough time to see some wildlife! No. This tour is combined with the regular ferry to Tiritiri Matangi island, so the first 1.5 hours are spent in silence as we head to TM island to drop off the day's visitors. We should have brought a book to occupy ourselves. At least now the tour would start! Part of the joy of tours and cruises is the patter of the guide and the interesting facts you learn about the area you're in, or the animals you see. But... not in this case. There was a five minute pre-recorded Maori introduction and explanation of how the islands were "bought" by the English, a brief announcement by the skipper that we were looking for specific birds that usually denote a whale or dolphin under the water, and then... nothing. We literally drove around in silence for 2.5 hours. The fact that we didn't see any whales or dolphins (and didn't even try for the penguins or seals also mentioned on the tour page) is almost beside the point. Even if we had seen one, those few minutes would not have made up for the hours of boredom before and after. We were dropped off at Tiritiri Matangi for our brief visit (which was, to be fair, utterly gorgeous) and then piled back on to the boat for... another 1.5 hour ferry ride in silence. So of our seven hour cruise, fully three hours were wasted as a non-advertised ferry service, and the remaining two and a half hours of the "tour" were spent in complete silence staring out the window at nothing. For this we paid $150 each. Since we did not see any wildlife, we were offered a voucher to attend the same cruise again. This is of little use to us as we flew home the following day. 0/10 experience, would not recommend.

The island is good and quiet for a family trip

Great day out! Staff were very friendly and even stopped the ferry to show everyone a seal.

Friendly, professional, knowledgeable staff. The tour was great fun. I will absolutely be back to try out more of their offerings.

Sailed on an America's cup yacht in the weekend. What a fantastic experience. Loved it so much I want to go again tomorrow. The boat was great and the crew were wonderful.

Loved the experience, crew and skipper were amazing, even helped out for my proposal. Had a great time. Would recommend. Smooth sailing and lovely views.

Amazing setting, food and staff! Very professional, beautiful, safe, comfortable, fun and totally enjoyable. Well worth doing. I was blessed with a gorgeous day/sunset so that did ehance it, nevertheless the team were superb and very friendly. I would do this again in a heartbeat!