Waieheke Island is a 40-minute ferry ride to the East of Auckland, New Zealand and is synonymous with wine and beautiful beaches. We visited while staying in Devonport which is a seaside town on the far East side of Auckland.
The island isn’t that large, but there is a LOT to see, especially if you’re stopping at one of the 30 or so boutique wineries scattered throughout. Biking around the island is possible, but it would be a 62 mile ride (so start training)!
We could easily have spent a few days there, but we decided to skip the intense planning and visit just a few. I’ll tell you about our experience with each and give you a few tips for how to make the most of your experience there.
The wineries
We only covered 10% of the wineries while we were on Waiheke Island, but we feel like we got a good taste (no pun intended) of what the island had to offer. Here’s a quick overview of the three we visited.
🍷 First Stop: Wild Estate
Wild Estate – “the untamed winery” is easy to get to from the main road and offers a really accessible, unpretentious experience. It’s a little hard to see this winery from the road. You’re greeted first by some lawn games, including a virtual skeet shooting range. A short walk up the hill and through the parking lot and we found ample, covered outdoor seating in the fresh island air. We (well, the adults at least) each ordered a wine flight and grabbed some food for us to share.
The wine? Incredible! We were actually quite surprised how good they were. We sampled (taster pours) five whites and five rosè and appreciated having descriptions in the menu that described the profile of each. We would have ordered more, but alas, we had a few more stops.
🍷 Second Stop: Stonyridge Vineyard
Ahh, Stonybridge. This is by far the most beautiful winery we visited. The main building is adorned with vines and is surrounded by pristine landscaping. The view in the back was stunning, overlooking a valley where the grapes are grown. The prices on the menu reflected the quality of the views though – we ordered only one flight to share and skipped the food.
The verdict? The wine was… ok. We aren’t wine snobs and maybe it was the slow, inattentive service but the wine wasn’t what we expected. We heard from our waiter that the wines are blended to a “specific ratio” set by the master winemaker, so the profile we samples was really more about someone else’s preference versus the pure profile of a non-blended wine. Based on the reviews, we know this plans has fans, but we left feeling underwhelmed.
🍷 Third Stop: Te Motu Vineyard
After our last stop, we were planning to just keep walking towards the road to continue through some other vineyards in the area. Instead, we were intrigued by a narrow pathway cut through fresh grasses that (at least according to the sign) led to a winery called Te Motu. We took this as a chance to enjoy the amazing weather and see some of the farmland but honestly had no idea what to expect. We found our way to the main driveway in about 8-10 minutes, and questioned our decision as we came upon a very unassuming building. “Wait, is this the winery?”
Sure enough, we were in the right place, but we weren’t confident we had found it until we walked inside. Judging by the aromas coming from the small kitchen, we quickly became certain we were. We found a table in the shaded area in the back and were put at ease by our very friendly and talkative waiter. He gave us an overview of the winery and sold us on the idea of a “vertical” wine tasting which we quickly said yes to.
What’s a “Vertical Tasting?” This is where you try one varietal (one type of grape) across a few different vintages (years). This was one of the most interesting ways to sample wine because we could taste all of the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between the years.
Hot year? One profile. Cool and cloudy year? A completely different profile. It was a really neat experience and our waiter walked us through all the flavors and how the weather affected them.
Onetangi Beach
After our amazing experience at Te Motu, (and a stop at SoHo Family Vineyards for some more food), we decided to take a long, 45-minute walk towards Onetangi beach. This beach is where much of the air (and humidity) blows over before it reaches the vineyards. The walk was fairly easy with only a few sections missing a sidewalk. The walk was entirely uneventful, but the beach was a delight.
We spent the next hour and a half here finding seashells, enjoying the warm breeze and catching the golden-hour sunlight that told us it was time to head back to the mainland. If you’re in the area, Oretangi beach is a must-see location and a great spot to reset and relax after a day of wine tasting.
Getting to Waiheke Island
Ferries from the Auckland Ferry Terminal run regularly and take about 40 minutes to cross the bay. An adult ticket with return trip was somewhere around NZD 60 during peak season. Kids are about half the adult price. Since we traveled from Devonport, we had to take the Devonport ferry to Auckland and then catch the main ferry to Waiheke.
Once you’re on the island, it’s really easy to hop on the bus and travel anywhere on the island. You can rent bikes or a car, but the bus was comfortable enough and got us where we needed to be pretty efficiently. We walked from the last winery to the beach and there were sidewalks along most of the roads, but some spots required some creative footwork.
Final thoughts on Waiheke Island
We really enjoyed spending a day here, but we could easily have spent more time (and money) on Waiheke Island. There is just so much to see! If you’re in Auckland and have at least a day to visit, do it! Grab a flight (or two), eat some delicious food, and take in all the beauty of this natural (wine)derland.
Cheers!