• 1 day kayak & walk - Abel Tasman Kayaks

    Choosing your experience

There are a number of ways to explore the park, each option provides a slightly different perspective on the park. All trips depart from Marahau and finish in Marahau. Guided trips are catered or partially catered, rental trips are self catered and most overnight trips* include camp passes which we book on your behalf.

Tips:

  • Camping or overnighting in the park is magic, so if you time we highly recommend it – you will come back recharged and rejuvenated.
  • Choosing a water taxi assisted trips means exploring more of the park. Our dedicated support vessels leave our base earlier than others and we often reach the beach before anyone else.
  • The sea breeze runs from North to South in summer and South to North in Summer.

Our trips are set up with naming conventions, like trip types and they vary in the length of time exploring the park.

Guided –  Choosing a guided kayak option means choosing passion, knowledge, and stories! Our guides’ love of adventure and people is invigorating, they return to the Abel Tasman year after year to share this unique coastline with you. Our world-class guides ensure high safety standards and deliver a first class experience.

Rentals Do you want to explore the Abel Tasman at your own pace, on your own time, and truly absorb the serenity of this beautiful park? Then renting/hiring a kayak is the option for you and best of all no prior experience (for most trips) is required, just a love of adventure. Before you depart our base we provide a comprehensive safety briefing ensuring you are confident. As part of your briefing we focus on pointing out special spots and provide detailed interpretation so you can get the most out of your trip. Launch your double sea kayak from one of the many golden sandy beaches, float on clear turquoise water and explore the park your own way.

Walks The Abel Tasman Coastal track is part of New Zealand’s great walk network. Its’ famous for its access to it’s many golden beaches and the native forest fringing the granite coastline. It is the only great walk with multiple access points which allows plenty of flexibility to explore in either direction. From lush tropical crops to regenerating native forest the well formed track scenery varies, it’s the glimpses of the turquoise water, tidal estuaries, side walks and access to the beaches that make this such a memorable walk.  The mild climate means any time of the year it is good to visit.

Classics serve up everything that is special about the Abel Tasman National Park. These trips are fully guided/hosted catered camping experiences. We are the only company to explore the northern reaches of the park so we make the most of having that part of the park to ourselves. We have a two, three and five day kayak option and a three day walking option. These trips create memories you’ll cherish for life.

Tikis, tiki tour is kiwi slang for looking-around, or tripping (and was originally derived from an old New Zealand tourist company of the same name), our tiki tours offer the advantage of exploring with a guide and then on your own allowing all the benefits of being hosted and then exploring the park independently, choose a two or three day tiki

 

Our rentals are named in the following ways:

Freedom 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 day hires provide the versatility for you to go out and back so you get to see the coast in both directions. These trips all start and finish at Marahau and are at your own pace.

We pioneered Park Starts in the early 2000’s. They are designed to travel one way and as the name suggests, start in the park. The beauty of these trips is that you paddle in the same direction as the sea breeze rather than going against it. You complete our safety briefing and then catch the 11.00 am water taxi up to your destination of choice (as far North as Onetahuti) and then paddle back over a number of days to Marahau. We offer trips from 2, 3 & 4 days to explore the park.

Kayak and Walk trips provide the flexibility to experience the Abel Tasman on both land and sea. Our trips start off with kayaking and then you continue by foot to explore the Abel Tasman great walk coastal track. We have trips that walk both North and South and from 1 2, 3, 4 & 5 days that are packaged with everything included.

*excludes 1 day kayak and walk

Water Taxi pricing

Water taxi retrieval for single kayak $20 per transfer

Water taxi retrieval for double kayak $41 per transfer

Per transfer Bag/Pack transfer $47 per bag

Passenger transfer from Marahau – Anchorage/Torrent Bay $48 pp

Passenger transfer from Marahau – Bark Bay $52 pp

Passenger transfer from Marahau – Onetahuti $54 pp

Passenger transfer from Marahau – Awaroa $48 pp

Passenger transfer from Marahau – Totaranui $50 per person

What our customers say

We hired kayaks and used the park start service to take us into the park to start our trip and book our camping. Our briefing and assessment prior to the trip with Georgia was excellent. Very thorough and informative.Kayak drop off by boat, camp spot and beach pick up we’re brilliant Great experience Thank you Chris and Liane (Uk) Feb 2023


Liane Llewellyn H

Totally recommend. Thx Moose!! Wonderful kayak instructor, educator and all round lovely person and thanx Wally and Chris plus the lovely person who provides lunch! We loved our experience. Not so much Awaroa lodge.
Thx team


NZfoodie2014

We had a great 3 days in the national park with Abke Tasman Kayaks. We were dropped off at the northern end of the park and paddled back slowly of the 3 days. The team was welcoming from the start, helpful with itinerary and showing us the equipment. Great maps and the boat skipper was very friendly and pointed all the spots along the way. Nightly recommend.


707philg

We rented a kayak for a day. Amber, who was very professional and friendly, gave us a safety demonstration and showed us routes to go. Kayaks were in great condition and the scenery was amazing. We saw seals and one swam under the kayak!


LF363

Top! The girl who was the guide was very good in teaching and dealing with the team.We have seen lots of animals


Martina C

We chose to hike part of the Able Tasman Track, and went with Able Tasman Kayaks who were dropping off a bunch of kayakers. We continued on board this fantastic fast boat and had an awesome tour of the whole area, then were dropped off at the beautiful Observation Beach so we could walk back out. It was an amazing day and the staff at Able Tasman Kayaks were... read more


693LindaJ693

#ABELTASMANKAYAKS

Camping in the Abel Tasman ❤️
The Abel Tasman coastline has a lot of variety.  In some spots, the lush bushline is down to the sea, while in others, it steps back. No matter where you are, it’s always spectacular. ✨🏞️
Help out this great project @projectjanszoon  are running.

Robin (kakaruai or toutouwai) are making a comeback in the Abel Tasman National Park. After an absence of about 30 years they’re now being seen occasionally on the coast track. 
 
Project Janzoon have just launched their citizen science project – Report a robin – in order to get people telling us about their robin sightings, and talking about the wonderful birdlife in the Park.
 
If you have been or about to go in the park report your sightings via the Abel Tasman App – Have you seen this section ; or via www.janszoon.org/reportarobin ;  Jot down the nearest trap number, looking for the numbered triangles.
Waking up on a beautiful beach - what's not to love, especially if someone has made you a cuppa!
The Abel Tasman National Park is teeming with wildlife, from the playful NZ fur seals to the charismatic kākā. 🐦🦭 Head to the northern section of the park for a chance to encounter these unique, endemic New Zealand treasures in their natural habitat!
We're nearly a quarter of the way through the century—2025 starts tomorrow! 🎉 Is exploring the stunning Abel Tasman on your bucket list for the year ahead?
Did you know there are two main islands in the Abel Tasman to explore, Adele Island & Tonga Island but there are a few more unknown one's that are fun to kayak past.
Merry Christmas from the team at Abel Tasman Kayaks. 🎄
Marahau boasts one of the largest tidal ranges in New Zealand! 🌊 This unique feature adds an extra layer of adventure to every kayak trip that includes a water taxi as you experience the dynamic rhythm of the tides during your landing and departure.
Embracing that 'yes' moment .... ❤🛶
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