Three Day Classic Great Walk

Spend three days walking independently one of New Zealand’s premier walks and let us take care of the rest.

Explore the Abel Tasman coastal track walking at your own pace. Relax and recharge over three glorious days exploring the many golden beaches and lush coastal native bush. Take your time to explore side tracks, relax and swim at beaches, the days are yours to savour and independently explore this great walk. In the evening relax and be taken care of by your knowledgeable guide.

This trip offers the best of both worlds, independent walking with the added luxury of being hosted by a guide in the evening and mornings. Your guide will take care of logistics and meals so you can concentrate on enjoying walking one of New Zealand’s great walks. Your guide will arrange the following:

Provide a map and outline track highlights for each day
Provide you with packed lunch and snacks
Transfer bags/items you don’t want to carry to your evening campsite
Set up and pack down your campsite and relocate to the next campsite
Host and prepare pre dinner drinks and nibbles, evening meals and breakfasts

The Abel Tasman is part of New Zealand’s great walk network and this premier track is designed for all levels of fitness. An outline of the journey is below. DoC’s full track brochure can be downloaded here. Summers call for lasting memories, and our Walking Classics do just that.

On this trip walking the coastline from Totaranui or Awaroa and surrounds to Marahau you have a professional guide with you in the morning and evenings sharing their knowledge and passion of the Abel Tasman. All meals are catered and designed around your health and energy. Accommodation for this trip is at stunning beachside campsites and all camping gear is included.

Every trip is unique like each of our clients.

We have set a summer schedule but are flexible outside our Tues & Sat departures, please contact us directly for alternate dates.

Price

$1099pp*

$999

Duration

3 Days

Check-in: 8.15 am
Age: Minimum 6 years, under the age of 18 you need to be accompanied by an adult on a 1 to 1 ratio
Open: Departs Sat – Nov |Tues & Sat Dec – Mar. On request outside of these times
Food: Fully catered
Abel Tasman Great Walk: Approximately 4 – 6 hours depending on walk option
Water Taxi: One water taxi cruise
Bus: $70 Nelson return, $30 Motueka return operating 1 Oct – 30 Apr. On request outside of these times

Full Park Map

Departure Times

Your trip includes an Environmental Access Fee which goes directly towards preserving the Abel Tasman National Park.

Risk Disclosure: For an understanding of the potential risks please click here and read before you book.

Itinerary

Day One

8.15 am

Check in and meet your guide.

8.30 am

Water Taxi to Awaroa or Totaranui.

9.45 am

Arrive Awaroa or Totaranui.

10.00 am

Start walking. Totaranui to Awaroa 2 hr 20 min, 7.1 km (tidal)
Awaroa to Onetahuti, 1 hr 30 min, (4-5 km)

Highlights: Skinner point lookout, Goat Bay, Awaroa Lagoon, Tonga Saddle, boardwalk prior to Onetahuti beach.

Arrive Onetahuti campsite.

7.00 pm

Dinner and dessert.

Day Two

Breakfast.

Pack any additional gear not required for the day.

Walk from Onetahuti area to Anchorage.
Onetahuti Bay to Bark Bay Hut (high tide track), 2 hr, 6.4 km
Onetahuti Bay to Bark Bay (low tide crossing, Bark Bay estuary), 1 hr 45 min, 4.6 km
Day Two

Bark Bay to Anchorage (high tide track), 4 hr, 11.5 km
Bark Bay to Anchorage (Low tide Torrent Bay estuary), 3 hr, 8.4 km

Highlights: Tonga Quarry, Bark Bay Estuary, Falls river & 47-metre long suspension bridge, Torrent Bay lookout, Torrent Bay Lagoon.

Side trips: Cascade Creek, Cleopatras pool.
Arrive Anchorage campsite.

Arrive Anchorage campsite.

7.00 pm

Dinner and dessert.

Day Three

8.00 am

Breakfast.

9.00 am

Pack any additional gear not required for the day.

9.30 am

Walk back to Marahau.
4 hrs, 12.4 km

Highlights: Lookout at top of Anchorage, Yellow Point, views of Adele Island, Marahau wetlands.

3.30 pm

Arrive Marahau and unpack gear. Enjoy showers and refreshments at the Abel Tasman Kayaks base.
Sample Menu

Day One

Lunch: Abel Tasman Kayaks freshly baked roll filled with local produce.

Dinner: Mediterranean Pasta.

Day Two

Breakfast: Muesli and fruit and/or toasted bagels.

Lunch: Abel Tasman Kayaks pita pockets.

Dinner: Chickpea Curry.

Day Three

Breakfast: Muesli and fruit and/or French toast.

Lunch: Abel Tasman Kayaks platter.

*Please note: These are an estimate of timings.

What to bring

Please bring personal water bottle, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, towel, swimwear, warm top (wool or fleece), wind jacket, a change of clothes, camera and any medication. Evening: Long pants, t-shirt, warm top (wool or fleece), trainers and socks, rain proof jacket. Personal: Toiletries, sleeping bag (we can provide this), torch.

We provide

We provide 2 person tents, thermarest inflatable mattresses, sleeping bags if required, plates, cutlery, cups, gas cookers, filtered water, all meals, accommodation in beachside campsites and of course an awesome Abel Tasman Kayaks guide for your evening and mornings.

FAQS

Environment Access Fee

Your trip includes an Environmental Access Fee which goes directly towards preserving the Abel Tasman National Park.

A portion of your ticket price goes directly towards preserving the unique environment you will enjoy on your trip in the Abel Tasman. This includes the compulsory concession fees paid to the Department of Conversation as well as voluntary contributions to local organisations and projects to improve the environment, ecology and access to the National Park. Fees are adjusted according to your trip, you can see your contribution when you purchase a ticket.

Find out more on how we are looking after this special place including our commitment to the Mārahau Pledge.
Do I need hiking boots?

For walking the track, firm footwear is required, but boots are not essential, walking sandals or sports shoes are fine.
More FAQ’s

A full list of our FAQ’s can be found here.

What our customers say

We kayak along the splendid Coast of Abel Tasman National park for over 2 hours then we stopped for lunch at the magnificent onetahuti beach. Daryl was our tour guide; he was really nice cool fun and let us stopped and take as many pictures as we wanted and explained us very well the history of the Abel national park .

Bilalifestyle

I had a great tour with Abel Tasman Kayaks. All the staff I met at the base were great, and the guide for my kayaking - Gareth - was very friendly and informative. It was awesome that we got a ride on a tractor to get to the beach with the kayaks. The kayaking part of the tour was my favourite, Gareth gave some awesome commentary and stayed at the... read more read less

briohnyp

We booked the half day kayak tour to Observation Beach and everything was fantastic. Our guide Darryl was great- super knowledgeable about the area, funny and full of stories. We saw loads of sea lions, birds, golden beaches, sea caves and had fun exploring the coastline. Had a relaxing snack and tea/coffee on the beach before continuing on our self-guided trip back down the Abel Tasman track to Motueka. The... read more read less

CMelissa7

We couldn't fault one bit of our kayak rental with Abel Tasman Kayaks! They were really professional, super friendly, flexible and helpful! The kayaks were in great condition, held way more stuff than we thought and were super easy to use! Thank you Abel Tasman Kayaks!

jmc13

Fantastische ervaring met zeer betrokken gidsen, die weten waar ze het over hebben en dicht bij de natuur staan. Een droom dag gehad!

jaccovputten

Our guide was great, super knowledgeable and brought lots of positive energy.
The views were amazing, we saw lots of wildlife and with the high tide we paddled through 3 beautiful lagoons.
The lunch was also delicious!

Saraandaaron

Spend three days walking independently one of New Zealand’s premier walks and let us take care of the rest.

Price

Duration

Departure Times

Itinerary

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Sample Menu

What to bring

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FAQS

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What our customers say

#ABELTASMANKAYAKS

Three Day Classic Great Walk

Spend three days walking independently one of New Zealand’s premier walks and let us take care of the rest.

Price

Duration

Departure Times

Itinerary

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Sample Menu

What to bring

We provide

FAQS

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What our customers say

#ABELTASMANKAYAKS

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