At 7.8 metres, Cave Cruzer is the only vessel of its size operating in Mercury Bay, small enough to navigate inside caves and blowholes that larger boats with cabins or roofs cannot enter, open-topped so nothing blocks your view of the volcanic ceilings above.
This is a two-hour cruise along 24 kilometres of protected Coromandel coastline and islands, departing Whitianga Wharf at 10:00 AM and covering ground most visitors only possible by boat. You will pass Shakespeare Cliff, named by Captain Cook in 1769 when he spotted a profile in the rock that reminded him of William Shakespeare. You will see Lonely Bay, Cooks Beach, and the ancient blowhole at Champagne Bay, where 17,000 years ago the high tide line sat 40 kilometres further out to sea.
Cathedral Cove is the centrepiece. Your guide shares the storey of Te Hoho Rock, the Sleeping Dragon formation, and the filming locations used in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The surrounding waters are part of a marine reserve established in 1992 - one of New Zealand's earliest and Gemstone Bay gives you a glimpse of the fish that live within it.
The experience heads inside Orua, New Zealand's second-largest sea cave and the third largest by volume in the world. Brian plays music inside the cave so you can hear the acoustics for yourself. It is the kind of moment that does not translate to a photograph.
Brian, your guide, has been running these waters for years. His humour, music, local knowledge of the geology, Maori history, and marine life of Mercury Bay - Te Whanganui-a-Hei - is what separates this from a boat ride.
Optional snorkelling and rock jumping available, caves and route subject to conditions.
