We spent the day on Rod Stuart's boat exploring Abel Tasman park. We hiked, kayaked, beachcombed and some of us swam. The water was a magnificent blue. Rod serves a great lunch and is an excellent penguin spotter. A beautiful way to see the park. More

We wanted to spend a day at Abel Tasman and our B&B hosts recommended taking a taxi boat to one of the beaches, walking to the next bay and picking up the taxi boat again for the return. Or alternatively, taking the charter which is more expensive but overall better. I decided on the charter on the basis that we... More

On our last day in NZ, we took a day-long cruise with Rod Stuart’s Abel Tasman Charters, from Stephens Bay. Welcomed aboard with coffee and tea, we motored North, past Split Apple Rock (which has to be seen to be believed!), Kaiteriteri, beautiful coves and beaches, and on to Tonga Island. Rod understands the behavior of the wildlife, and explained... More

How will the trip go: You will have to drive to a seclueded bay where the skipper will pick you up and drive you to the boat for the tour. You will get some safety instructions, some coffee and water and there you start up north. A couple of interesting points will be visited, like gannet or seal colonies and... More

Our day out with Rod on the Taranui was superb! He's extremely knowledgeable and interesting on pretty much anything to do with Abel Tasman Park, as well as New Zealand history and wildlife. We enjoyed an excellent lunch with locally-sourced food and drink, and there were 2 beach stops for walks or swims. Kayaks were another option but none of... More

We had the unfortunate luck to hit a very rainy day with Rod Stuart and the Taranui, but still enjoyed our day out on the Abel Tasman. The Taranui is a very nice 11-m catamaran with two cabins below deck (you can do overnight trips), the main cabin with a small kitchen, the wheel, and a dining area, and a... More

A great day trip - small boat - there were 8 people when we went. Rod is a friendly and knowledgeable skipper - able to chat about wildlife and history. The day is really well structured - cruising, sight seeing, opportunity to go kayaking or walk on a practically deserted beach. Simple but high quality lunch. Bit more cruising/sightseeing. Opportunity... More