We missed our slot but the team was support accommodating and let us join the next tour. We loved that our guide how so many personal experiences to share along the way! So interesting and informative! Was a great tour even with a bit of drizzle.

We were staying at Tauranga for a few days so drove to Rotorua to the living village. We paid for the cultural performance and village tour. The cultural performance was very good. The Māori people have such great singing voices. The village tour was also a standout. I would recommend you pay for both experiences.

We are so glad we picked this Māori village to visit. It has been around a long time. Our guide himself lives in the village and was very informative. It felt very genuine and welcoming. We really liked the history and how well daily life in a thermal area is lived now and in the past. While in Rotorua this place is one not to be missed.

We had booked on for the 9am self guided walk round the thermal pools followed by the guided tour of the village and then the cultural experience. The self guided walk was great as it was only us. The tour was very informative and we felt we had a much better understanding of Maori culture now. Finally the cultural experience. It was genuine but not polished! The day before we had been to Te Puia (don't go there come here instead). Their cultural experience was very polished, but perhaps less of the experience you get when the tourists have left. Also worth noting that you ge just as good a view of the Te Puia geysers from here.

This was a truly amazing experience. I wasn’t sure about the ‘tourist’ nature of this visit - worried about Māori culture being cheapened and ‘Disneyfied’ for masses of cruise ship passengers wandering through. But it wasn’t like that at all. A real, living, authentic Māori village, and the tourists are guests - guided by locals who are knowledgeable and full of respect for the heritage and majesty of this special place. And the natural surroundings, geysers, bubbling pools, landscape, walkways alongside a boiling lake … it’s just ‘wow’. So glad I was wrong … and so respectful of the Māori inhabitants who have welcomed guests to their Marai, and shared their amazing home with strangers from all parts of the globe. Do not miss this experience!

Our first visit to New Zealand and one of our must sees was here. We booked an All Day ticket and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Our guide was friendly, entertaining & knowledgeable. Would highly recommend.

We paid $30 per head to see the cultural performance. The seven performers were great and we really enjoyed the show. However the show ran for 32 minutes and there was no meet and great or photo opportunities with the performers afterwards like we have had in the past.additionally to access the rest of the village was an additional $45 per person to go on a guided tour. We browsed briefly through the shops on our way out and then were asked to leave as we weren’t on the guided tour. We have been through Whakarewarewa many times over the years both with family and school groups and have enjoyed the tour, performance and hangi sampler. I would’ve loved to have shown our guest where the corn was cooked and bought some but I couldn’t manage an additional $180 for our 4 to do a guided tour. A little disappointed to be honest. I know Whakarewarewa used to be better value than Te Puia but I guess you can charge whatever the guests are willing to pay.

We had a great 1 hour tour by our tour guide Jesse, able to learn a lot about the village and the people. It was then followed by a 1/2 hour cultural performance with was amazing. The performers were great and the songs they sang were very heart warming. Tour and cultural performance you book separately.

A great way to gain a small insight into Maori lifestyle both past and present. The cultural show was fabulous as well as interactive. The guided tour is a must so you can understand a little about Maori culture

Thank you, Philip, for a very interesting, fun and informative tour. It was good to get a real insight into your culture and history. The cooked corn was delicious. The geyser very impressive. The show was great fun too. I highly recommend this tour.