Whakatane i-SITE Visitor Information Centre
Swimming with dolphins in Tauranga
Several companies operate boat trips from Tauranga where you can swim with dolphins. Sometimes you can also see other sea life including fur seals, blue penguins, whales and turtles on these trips.
Dolphin Seafaris have trips that depart from both Tauranga and Mount Maunganui and Dolphin Blue operate trips that depart from Tauranga.
Dolphins are wild animals so there is never a 100% success rate of seeing or swimming with dolphins on these trips; however, the chances are high with Dolphin Seafaris claiming a 95% success rate of viewing dolphins and an 85% success rate of swimming with dolphins (you are not allowed to swim with dolphins if there are baby dolphins present in a pod). They also offer a ‘dolphin guarantee’ where you get a second trip for free if you don’t see dolphins first time around, but the guarantee only applies December–March.
These tours take around five hours and trips operate from November to early May.
Skydiving
You can jump from between 800ft and 12000ft above Mount Maunganui with Tauranga Tandem Skydiving.
It starts with a 15 to 20-minute flight from Tauranga Airport that gives you views of Mount Ruapehu, Coromandel Peninsula and East Cape. You have the option of jumping from 10,000ft (3,048m) which gives you around 30 seconds of freefall or 12,000ft (3,657m) which gives you around 40 seconds freefall before your parachute is deployed at 5,000ft (1,524m). After your parachute is open, you have a six-minute decent before you safely land.
Learning to surf in Mount Maunganui
Mount Maunganui is a popular surfing destination and there are several places where you can learn to surf here, including Hibiscus Surf School and Mount Maunganui Surf Academy.
Both surf schools offer beginners and intermediate lessons. A two-hour beginners lesson is usually enough to teach you the basics and get you standing on a board.
Climbing Mount Maunganui
This 232m-high extinct volcano dominates the centre of Mount Maunganui. At the northern end of Maunganui Road, take the walking track to the summit for a great view.
It is a 45-minute walk to the top and 25 minutes back down.
Pacific Coast Lodge coach stop
InterCity Coachlines and ManaBus coaches stop at the bus stop outside the Pacific Coast Lodge at 432 Maunganui Road south of central Mount Maunganui.
This stop is handy if you’re staying at Pacific Coast Lodge or if you’re travelling with ManaBus (which doesn’t have a more central Mount Maunganui stop).
There are direct coach services connecting Mount Maunganui to Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Taupo.
InterCity coach services that stop here, also in central Mount Maunganui and at the Bayfair shopping centre. There is a wider choice of coach services departing from the busier InterCity coach stop outside the i-SITE information centre in central Tauranga, including coaches to Wellington.
Mount Maunganui InterCity coach stop
InterCity Coachlines coaches stop at the bus stop outside the Spongedrop cake shop at 10 Salisbury Avenue in central Mount Maunganui.
There are direct InterCity coach services connecting Mount Maunganui to Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Taupo.
Most coach services that stop in central Mount Maunganui, also stop at the Bayfair shopping centre and also outside Pacific Coast Lodge. There is a wider choice of coach services departing from the busier InterCity coach stop outside the i-SITE information centre in central Tauranga, including coaches to Wellington.
If you are catching a ManaBus coach service from Mount Maunganui, you’ll need to wait outside Pacific Coast Lodge.
Tauranga coach stop
InterCity Coachlines, ManaBus, Naked Bus coaches stop outside the i-SITE Visitor Information Centre on Wharf Street, opposite the TSB Bank.
From Tauranga, there are direct bus and coach services to most major towns and cities on the North Island. This includes coaches to Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsula, Hamilton, Napier, Palmerston North, Rotorua, Taupo, Wellington.
It is also possible to catch some buses and coaches in Mount Maunganui with InterCity having stops in central Mount Maunganui, Pacific Coast Lodge and the Bayfair shopping centre and ManaBus stopping at Pacific Coast Lodge. However, the main stop outside the i-SITE in central Tauranga is most convenient if you’re not staying in Mount Maunganui.
Tauranga i-SITE Visitor Information Centre
Zorbing
Zorbing is a unique activity that was invented in Rotorua. It involves rolling down a hill inside a big inflatable ball.
You have a choice of tracks, depending on whether you want to zig-zag or go down the hill fast and steep. There is also the option of a wet zorb ride, where a bucket of water is tossed into the zorb before you roll down the hill.