Black sands, native wildlife, and award-winning wine awaits you on this tour of Auckland’s wild west coast. Following pickup from your central hotel, you’ll travel to Muriwai, a coastal enclave whose windswept beach and waves draw surfers and visitors from miles around. Stroll the beach and visit the cliff-top gannet colony, then continue to a nearby wine estate, where you’ll taste a selection of local varietals and blends.

Guided tour of Muriwai in West Auckland
Visit Muriwai, a popular surfing spot famous for its volcanic sands and gannet colony
Included tasting at Kumeu River Wines, Matua Wines, or West Brook wine estate
Central Auckland hotel pickup and drop-off makes it possible to visit the west coast without needing to hire a car

What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Guide
Transport
National Park fees
Wine-tasting
Local taxes

Personal expenses
Lunch

Meeting And Pickup

Meeting point

SkyCity Hotel Auckland
72 Victoria Street West, Auckland CBD, Auckland 1010, New Zealand

Start time

12:30 PM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Begin with a morning or afternoon pickup from your hotel in Auckland CBD, and then travel out of the city center to West Auckland in a climate-controlled vehicle. On the way, you’ll cruise through the scenic areas of Waimaulu, Kumeu and Huapai, the latter of which translates as “the place of excellent fruit” in Māori.

On arrival in Muriwai, roughly 26 miles (42 km) west of central Auckland, jump out of the vehicle to explore with your guide. Walk along the sparkling black sands and learn more about the area’s history. Then, continue to Otakamiro Point, whose cliffs and rocky nesting areas are home to the region’s only gannet colony.

Next, continue to Kumeu River Wines, Matua Wines or West Brook wine estate, where you’ll take part in a guided wine tasting, sampling fine local varietals such as pinot gris, pinot noir and riesling.

After roughly 3.5 hours, your tour concludes with a drop-off back at your hotel.

Muriwai Gannet Colony

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Soljans Estate Winery

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Westbrook Winery

35 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 4 hours of travel. In this case confirmation will be received as soon as possible, subject to availability
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Minimum drinking age is 18 years
Child rate applies only when sharing with two paying adults
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 11 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Chris_H

we had now done about 5 tours while here in Auckland and this was by far the best. John was very knowledgeable, helpful, funny and an all around great host. We tasted wine at two great wineries with not only great wine but great views and a lot of fun. We would suggest this tour to anyone and were tempted to sign up for another one if we had the time.

Reviews

5.0

50 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

Showing 1-10 of 50 reviews

A superb wine tour near Auckland!

James_L, Mar 2023

This wine tour conducted by NZWINEPRO was outstanding in every respect. Not only were the two wineries superb, but our guide/driver was very knowledgeable, extremely friendly and accommodating, and made our experience truly memorable and a pure pleasure. He was very upfront about the fact that we couldn't see the black sand beach due to recent climatic disaster, but we got as close as possible to view it from above, and it didn't diminish our experience. We would gladly go again. He closed out the wine tour with a visit to one of the best wine stores we have ever seen. This tour was a highlight of our time in Auckland.

Short beautiful experience

Carline_S, Feb 2023

It was a lovely trip with amazing scenic view, the wine tasting was not what I expected but still it was worth the trip.

It was a rainy day but...

Roberto_C, Jan 2023

It was a rainy day but our host made the best of it. The wine tours were indoors and the rain let up briefly while we toured the gannet colony. Our original guide at the first winery was unavailable but our host, who seems to know everyone, managed to snag the owner himself to serve at our tasting. Good group of people. Highly recommend this tour.

Terrible weather - but...

Nicki_T, Jan 2023

Terrible weather - but great company, excellent tour guide and delicious wines! Thanks John for a great day! ☺️

Fun and informative

Marie_P, Dec 2022

Informative and fun. We had a great group. Wine tasting was great. John was very knowledgeable about wine, Auckland and New Zealand.

Great afternoon

Thomas_A, Dec 2022

Wonderful couple of wineries and very informative guide. 5-6 tastings at each stop. Gannet colony was fun to watch on the cliffs of black sand beach.

Wonderful easy short trip out of Auckland with wine and views.

Frank_M, Nov 2022

A short drive out of Auckland with two beaut winery tastings along the way and a black sand beach view up high with nesting Gannets close by. Super friendly knowledgeable kind and a very wine everything guide in John. Highly recommended.

Exceeded expectations

Monika_T, Nov 2022

It's hard to know where to start. But let's begin with this, I am a wine drinker and I am particularly interested in wine and wineries, but my other half is a non drinker but went along for the ride regardless. However my other half is a keen amateur photographer, and the visit to the Muriwai gannet colony and black sand beach at Muriwai, as well as the trip across to the West coast of NZ was what he found most appealing about this tour. Well let me tell you, this tour came with 200 per cent value added. John our tour guide extraordinaire (and owner of the business) has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of wine, the wine industry, grape varieties, soil, weather and climate variables etc etc. John had a very polite and accommodating personality and regaled us with information that was not only about wine, but he also talked about NZ Industry and exports, the impact of COVID on tour operators, the history of the wine development in NZ, the environment and the fascinating Gannet (at the Muriwai gannet colony) breeding habits and life cycles, migration etc. My partner did NOT expect to be particularly interested in the wine related part of the tour, but came away very impressed and amazed with all aspects of NZ wine making and the knowledge, skill and science that it takes to bring the finished product to it's discerning consumer. The visit to the two wineries (Soljan and Westbrook) were enjoyable and the winery staff were very professional and helpful with the wine tasting. Unlike a typical cruise tour (we were travelling via cruise ship), there was no urgency to keep our small group (8 pax total) moving along. BTW the very clear meet and pick up information was very descriptive, easy to follow and John arrived on time.

Our driver John was a great tour guide

Sheila_W, Nov 2022

Wine tastings were great and seeing the beautiful coastline with all the Gannets was quite spectacular.

Best wine tour in Auckland…Period

Sameer_K, Nov 2022

John was a wonderful tour guide who had in-depth knowledge about New Zealand, Wine making and many other topics. His personal relationships with each of the wineries we visited made the visit even more special. We got to interact with the wine makers and learn so much about the entire process of wine making. Highly recommended …..

Couple of California girls in NZ

Jamie_D, Oct 2022

Such an amazing experience! John, our tour guide, was incredible. Loved that we got to see the ganets nesting and the black sand beach. John really listened to us and planned the perfect afternoon. When he learned that our luggage had been lost, he even made a stop at a grocery store. I can't say enough good things about this tour!

Excellent tour!

Renato_B, Jul 2022

Excellent tour with John- would highly recommend! John was an excellent tour guide- knowledgeable and courteous!

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Hi Renato, Thanks for your excellent review. I'm so happy you could try some classic New Zealand Wines and also get to see the beautiful black sand beach and Gannet colony at Muriwai. I hope you'll follow NZWINEPRO™ on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter where I post photos and information about wine, cuisine and things of interest I find on tour. Best regards - John McFarlane

Excellent tour

Jason_N, May 2022

Our guide was very informative and treated everyone on the tour with expert advise and commentary. The vineyards we toured were of very high quality even if Covid had reduced the experience we felt that this did not hinder a great afternoon.

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Hi Jason, Thanks for your review and I'm really please you enjoyed the afternoon. Covid has been so challenging for so many for so long, so appreciate your thoughts. I hope you'll follow NZWINEPRO™ on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter where I post photos and information about food, wine and things of interest I find on Tour. Best regards - John McFarlane

Muriwai Wine Tour

Catherine_C, Mar 2020

Wonderful afternoon tour. John was fabulous so knowledgeable. We toured 2 wineries and the gannet colony. His wine knowledge was encyclopedic.

Best tour we have had in Auckland

Chris_H, Jan 2020

Mixed experience- Murawai Scenic Wine Tour

Daydream661819, Sept 2019

We assumed this was a scenic wine tour with a view of the gannet colony included. The first stop at Babich wines was very good- good video of the history of the wine family and a really good knowledgeable tasting; then we stopped on top of a cliff and looked at the birds- I told the driver I had shingles in my foot when he said we were going to climb up a cliff to get closer to the birds but he went anyway- apparently the climb was very steep and birds very, very smelly up close- not a pleasant experience and would not recommend. The went to a very large commercial winery (West Brook Wines) for another tasting- this was very average with large crowds of people and no explanation about the wines- very perfunctory experience. The driver dropped us back at a restaurant in Auckland for lunch

Lovely afternoon highly...

Marshall E, Feb 2018

Lovely afternoon highly knowledgeable tour guide, 2 great wine tastings, some incredible scenery and a fabulous view of the gannet colony. Highly recommended and good value.

Our day with John was amazing. He...

Sarah K, Nov 2017

Our day with John was amazing. He picked us up right in front of our hotel and we got lucky to be the only people booked that day, it was a private wine tour. We headed out to the vineyards and tasted some great wines. Big shout out to The Hunting Lodge Winery and Rota - it was our favorite of the day. John then took us to the coast to see the gannets and their chicks. What a majestical sight. An overall great day and would totally do this tour again next time we are in Auckland.