Waiheke Island: Wine & Gourmet Food Tour with Oysters

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1/26

Duration5h 30m

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Three Vineyards, Oysters & Lunch on Waiheke Island

You visit three Waiheke vineyards with a local guide who knows the producers personally, taste olive oils and wines, eat oysters from Te Matuku Bay (weather permitting), and have a family-style lunch paired with local wine. The small group size and flexible itinerary mean you get what's actually available that day rather than a fixed route, and the guide handles all the stops and timing so you just show up at your hotel.

5h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Waiheke Island gourmet food and wine tour

Visit olive oil production and tasting
Enjoy tapas-style lunch at Spanish vineyard
Taste craft whisky or local wine at The Heke

The Experience

"The oysters come in this morning, so we're lucky today," our guide said as we pulled up to the first stop, and that's when I realized this wasn't going to be a standard wine-tasting circuit. Waiheke Island sits just off Auckland's coast, and Ananda Tours — a family operation that's been running this island for over 25 years — has built relationships with local producers that mean you're not just visiting vineyards, you're getting access to what's actually available that day. The tour hits three venues, each one different: an olive oil producer where you taste Greek-style Koreneiki, Spanish Picual, and Tuscan Frantoio blends, then a Spanish-influenced vineyard with Gaudi-inspired mosaics where lunch arrives family-style alongside wine pairings, and finally The Heke for either small-batch craft whisky or a glass of local wine in a low-key setting.

What makes this Waiheke Island gourmet food and wine tour work is the group size — capped at 15 people, usually smaller — and the fact that your guide actually knows the producers. You're not being herded through; you're being introduced. The oysters, if the weather cooperates and the harvest is in, come straight from Te Matuku Bay. If it's been raining hard, they won't be available, and the vineyard lineup might shift based on what's open that week, but that's the trade-off for getting something real instead of a fixed script. Lunch is the anchor of the day — served at the Spanish vineyard, it's generous and meant to be shared, which changes the whole rhythm of how you move through the island.

The vehicle is air-conditioned and picks you up from your accommodation, which matters on a day when you're tasting from morning into afternoon. You need at least two people to book, and the minimum age is 18. If you have dietary needs — vegetarian, specific allergies — you have to flag it 24 hours ahead. Nut allergies in particular need advance notice, and anyone with a severe anaphylactic allergy should carry an EpiPen. The tour runs year-round, though the itinerary shifts slightly in the colder months (June, July, August) depending on what's in season and what the producers have on offer.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup in an air-conditioned vehicle, live commentary from a local guide, olive oil tasting with multiple styles, wine tastings at two vineyards, oysters from Te Matuku Bay (subject to seasonal availability and weather), a family-style lunch paired with local wine, and a final tasting of small-batch craft whisky or a glass of local wine at The Heke, plus all local taxes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPets welcomePublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelers

Operated by Ananda Tours Limited

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the main Waiheke wine and food stops in one day without arranging your own transport or timing — the guide's relationships with producers mean you get what's actually available that day, and the small group size keeps the pace relaxed enough to linger.