Abel Tasman Kahu Kayaks Full Day review: Hike, kayak and water taxi
Below is a review of a full day trip I did thanks to Kahu Kayaks in Abel Tasman National Park: the “swingers delight”.
I’ve not been paid to write this article so as always I’ll keep an independent view 🙂
Link to their website and the story of our day on the glacier on my blog 🙂
Summary:
Accessibility/ physically demanding: 4/5(very easy!)
Customer relationship/reactivity: 5/5
Landscapes and “wow-effect”: 4/5
Professionalism: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5
Introduction
Abel Tasman is a fantastic national park on the North of New Zealand’s South Island. Wonderful golden sand beaches, fantastic colors and great costal landscapes are it’s nature. Definitely a must do. With a lot of activities, I think the best way to discover the parc is by kayaking. You can get so close to the translucide waters and awesome colors!
What is the trip?
A full day boat + hike + kayak in Abel Tasman. It can be “customized” and pretty much all the options exist – but I think this tour is one of the best to discover Abel Tasman if you only have one day there.
Guided by Kahu Kayaks, the water taxi took us to Torrent Bay after a detour at the Apple Split rock (an interesting rock with cool birds). We then hike (alone) to Bark Bay, where a water taxi moved us to Watering Cove. We then kayaked back to Marahau.
Was it worth it?
Definitely, yes. Even though we got a lot of clouds in the morning (making the colors less nice), the landscapes are fabulous, and I think the best way to discover the park is by kayaking. With this trip, you get to have a fair bit of everything – perfect for tourists/photographers like me who want to see a lot.
NZD170 is I think a fair price for a full day trip.
Is Kahu Kayaks a great company?
I’ve been told by our hostel manager that it was a great one, and it was! They are very professional, very reactive to emails (as always in NZ??), and the kayak guides were really cool and professional 🙂
I definitely recommend them.
What about the accessibility and organisation?
They are really well organized. Even on low season 😉 they’ll make everything to make you fell great. The double kayaks are great, there is plenty of space both inside and outside. They provide dry bags, so no worries if you wanna bring your camera. It’s very stable when the wind is low.
And thanks to kayaking skirts, you won’t get wet!
The coastal track is really well marked, wide and easy, almost flat. The boat part was easy too 😇 and the kayaking bit is simple, especially since you are two in a boat, you really don’t have to be strong or anything, the guides move slowly along the coast so simply follow 🙂
Conclusion
This was a really good experience. Definitely recommend both the trip and Kahu Kayaks. Don’t miss Sandfly Bay and Medlands Beach on your way to Bark Bay!:)
Please let me know if you have any more questions!
Hope it helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!
Road tripping in New Zealand ?
Don’t miss my article on the best roads in NZ and the top sites (North Island – South) (select your translation from the sidebar)
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