Auckland & the Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is the jewel of the subtropical Northland, a sheltered bay scattered with 144 green islands resting in warm, turquoise water a few hours' drive north of Auckland. After the alpine drama of the South Island, this is New Zealand at its gentlest and most inviting, a place of leaning pohutukawa trees, sandy coves and a climate mild enough to swim from a boat for much of the year.
Most of all it is a place to get out on the water. Days are spent sailing and cruising among the islands, swimming in hidden coves and watching dolphins ride the bow wave, with the famous Hole in the Rock at Cape Brett to nose through and some of the country's finest game fishing on the open sea beyond. You can crew a yacht for the day, take a catamaran out to the headland or simply drop anchor off an empty beach and wade ashore.
Ashore, the bay is the cradle of the nation. It was here, at Waitangi in 1840, that the founding treaty between the Maori and the Crown was signed, and the historic towns of Paihia, Russell and Kerikeri carry that story still. We weave the sailing and the swimming together with a morning at the Treaty Grounds and a ferry across to pretty, low-slung Russell, so the trip rewards you on the water and on land alike.
