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People keep saying that South island in New Zealand is the most beautiful, while I totally agree with them, I can totally pitch in for the North Island. It is no less beautiful and if you are a beach person Bay of Islands is what you must visit.

About 3 hrs drive to the north of Auckland is Bay of Islands. Captain James Cook when discovering New Zealand discovered the Bay of Islands which is a bay of over 150 small islands most of them still unexplored to date. Some of these islands are closed by the department of conservation to protect the bird and wild life on these islands. This means you can still visit these islands by hiring a small boat and staying on the beach, but you cannot go inland.

These beaches and islands are popular for the pristine beaches, adrenalin rushing activities like water sports and sky diving, sight seeing on islands like Russell or if you want to do nothing and just chill out!

Diving near Poor Knight Islands is pretty popular and definitely suggested. If you are planning only a day for this though I suggest you get your PADI licence before hand.

We jet skied with Tango Jet Ski and the staff over there are super friendly and very knowledgeable and their prices are pretty reasonable. You can either take one of their tours or you can hire a jet ski and just into the seas by yourself.

We took their tour and their staff Dave was with us. He was a cool guy, super friendly and since we dint have accommodation they even offered change rooms. That is what I call going above and beyond! The tour was hell of a fun and once on land we all wanted to do it again!

Apart from Jet ski, Tango guys also do sky diving as well! So you might want to take it a bit more further and jump off the plane

We also did speed boating with Explore NZ guys. This was so much of fun and we also crossed the infamous “Hole in the rock”, though this is weather dependant. They also offer other services like swimming with the dolphins, fishing, sailing and can also book activities with the other providers, which is really handy.

We then headed off to the spectacular Haruru Falls which is about 10 minutes away from Paihia. The concave waterfalls are loud and hence “Haruru”. Though not huge it is a must visit! There is also a Waitangi walking trail that goes on for about 2.5 hrs which ends at the Treaty house!

Atractions – Some of the must sees

• Hole in the Rock
• Russell Island
• Paihia
• Haruru Falls
• Hikes
• Wines – One of the world’s best Sauvignon Blanc

Activities – Must dos

• Wines
• Hikes
• Jet skiing
• Diving
• Sky diving
• Swimming with Dolphins
• Dolphin watching
• Speed boating

If you think thats something, wait till I write about our experiences of Ninety Mile beach and Cape Reinga!