Adventure Sports in New Zealand

1. Skydiving: New Zealand has a scenic landscape all around, surrounded by water bodies and mountains. So naturally, one of the most popular New Zealand adventure sports is skydiving, allowing the skydivers to soak in all the landscape from a bird's eye view.

The beauty and excitement from the diving session will have you and your partner enjoy a breathtaking experience of tandem jumps. Skydiving in New Zealand will offer the views of sparkling lakes, snow-capped mountains, volcanoes and forests, depending upon the location.

Location: Popular skydiving locations are Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wanaka, Queenstown, Lake Taupo etc.
Price: The skydiving packages may start from $359.

2. Bungee jumping: Take a leap of faith, literally, and try bungee jumping in New Zealand. Jumping off a tower of nearly 190m high and free falling at 85 km/ph makes for an insanely exhilarating sport. New Zealand is well known for having some of the highest bungee jumping of which, Nevis Bungy is at the height of 134 metre.

Location: Nevis, the highest place for Bungee jumping in New Zealand is in Queensland, Kawarau Bungy site in Queensland, Waikato river, Auckland Harbour bridge.
Price: The starting price is $150, however, it may vary depending upon the place and service providers.

3. Caving: For people who would rather go visit caves and explore the history and nature's wonder, New Zealand's Waitomo cave has a lot to offer. The limestone caves, combined with stalactites, stalagmites and gorgeous glow worms is something that looks like out of a storybook.

Tourists can either walk around in the caves or take a boat tour around these caves and soak in the beauty of some of the world's most challenging yet spectacular caving systems. They can also take a guided tour to Nelson, where the Southern Hemisphere's deepest sinkhole exists.

Location: 39 Waitomo Village Road, Waitomo 3977.
Price: $25 for children, $55 for adults.

4. Ziplining: Zoom past through some of the most famous forests of New Zealand while watching the spectacular mountain range in the backdrop, all the while enjoying the ziplining.

The speed at which the person moves through different scenic locations makes it an extremely thrilling sport, as well as the person can relish the natural beauty the country has to offer in its optimal condition.

Location: Rotorua, Nelson, Queensland, Auckland
Price: Depending on the place, it may start at $150.

5. Snorkelling: Since it is an island country, the best adventure activities in New Zealand include diving and snorkelling. Tourists who are interested in getting a glimpse of the underwater marine life, they could take a tour in one of the most unique and excellent underwater locations.

The Poor Knights Island offers snorkelling and diving tours for people to visit caves, arches, cliffs among other wonders that lie just beneath the water surface.

Location: Goat Island, Poor Knights Island Marine Reserve, Cathedral Cove, Tonga Island Marine Reserve etc.
Price: Somewhere around $150 to $200

6. Hiking: Along with snorkelling and others, hiking is one of the top New Zealand adventure sports that tourists have a good time partaking in. Since the country is surrounded by mountains and rocky terrains, the country has a planety of hiking sites.

Some of these trails go through rugged coastlines, forests, river valleys. Many of the hiking trails might take a day or two to complete, while some others may take only a few hours.

Location: Mt. Victoria trails in Wellington, Abbey Caves hike Whangarei, Tongariro Alpine Crossing in the Tongariro National Park, Whirinaki forest hike etc.
Price: It may start at $380.

7. Jet boating: Feel the touch of danger from close range, with one of the most popular adventure sports in New Zealand, Jet Boating. Available for people of all ages and all fitness levels, jet boating allows the participants to go through narrow gorges, in shallow waters.

The jet boats are highly manoeuvrable, allowing the riders to come close to brushing against the rock faces but still helping them stay safe. The good thing about jet boating is that people can enjoy it any time of the year, unlike some other extreme adventure sports.

Locations: Queenstown, Canterbury, Rangitaiki, Waikato Rivers, Auckland, Rotorua etc.
Price: Prices may start from $150.

8. Rafting: Rafting in New Zealand could be quite an experience, as the mountainous terrain in the country offers some of the world’s best white water rivers. The fast flowing rivers can flow through forests to the sea, allowing the people to enjoy the scenic beauty of the forests, as well as rocky gorges.

The white water rafting ranges from Grade 1 to Grade 5, Grade 1 rafting is done in a comparatively tranquil water body, while the grade 5 rafting falls under the category of extreme sports.

Location: Tongariro river, Rangitikei River, Shotover River, Wairoa River.
Price: The price may start at $149.

9. Mountain Biking: Going mountain biking can be termed as one of the best adventure activities in New Zealand, as the trails consist of some of the most beautiful forests, splendid mountains, abandoned railways and even farm tracks.

The riders could either bike through the forests, or they may choose one of the purpose built paths, leading to the top of hillocks. Many historic mining tracks from the 1860s and 1870s have now been turned to biking trails, with a flowing single track.

Location: Paihia, Rotorua, Ohakune, Wellington, Nelson, Wanaka, Picton etc.
Price: Starts at $45.99, but prices may vary.

10. Heli-Skiing: If a person loves to enjoy snow-covered mountains and skiing through it, to enjoy the adrenaline rush it gives, New Zealand's heli-skiing is an adventure sport that they should not miss.

You don't have to be a professional or hard-core skier and snowboarder to enjoy this heli-skiing trip in alpine terrain. The helicopters will take you to the top of white, snow-covered majestic mountains where you can jump off the helicopter to the hundred of hectares of land designed specifically for the skiing enthusiasts.

Location: Cecil Peak, Queenstown, Harris Mountains Heliski, Queenstown, Aoraki Mount Cook, Coronet Peak, etc.
Price: Starts at $245.

1. Surfing: People who have tried surfing once in their lives know the amount of excitement and adrenaline rush it brings. What could be more exhilarating than racing with the ocean waves? The North Island of New Zealand has a lot of beastly waves to offer to surfers.

One of the most popular adventure sports in New Zealand, surfers can try surfing along with the thousands of kilometres of natural coastline or in hundreds of small bays. The difficulty level for surfin in these coastlines normally ranges from moderate to difficult. So the beginners are advised to try surfing in a controlled environment.

Location:Shipwreck Bay in Ahipara, Te Arai and Piha in Auckland, Whangapoua Bay- Great Barrier Island etc.
Price:Starts a $115

2. Kayaking: Kayaking is one of the many New Zealand adventure sports that tourists could enjoy either solo or with friends. There are thousands of hidden gems of places in the country that are accessible with a kayak. The caves and islands or the Maori carvings in Taupo make for an excellent kayaking trip for everyone who is fascinated by stone carvings.

Location:Milford Sound, Abel Tasman National Park, Lake Taupo, Bay Island etc.
Price:$55-$80 depending on the place.

3. Scuba Diving: For scuba divers or any water sports lover, New Zealand is a paradise. With the crystal clear water, accessible coastlines, offshore islands, New Zealand is everything an extreme water sports lover could ever ask for. Scuba divers in New Zealand can swim with dolphins, fishes and explore kelp forests underwater.

Scuba diving and snorkelling are two of the popular adventures in New Zealand that anyone can give a try at.

Location:Waiheke, Poor Knights Island, Hauraki Gulf, Kaikoura Peninsula etc.
Price:Starts at $120.

4. Parasailing: Parasailing remains another one of the popular adventure sports in New Zealand because even a beginner can enjoy it with the help of an instructor. If the person is afraid to do it alone or doesn’t feel confident enough, many operators will allow them to go for a tandem parasailing experience.

The parasailing will allow you to enjoy the surroundings from a different point of view, at a safe height of 800 feet. Sometimes the operators also allow people to fly as high as 1200 feet.

Location:Bay of Islands, Queenstown, Rotorua, Wanaka etc.
Price:Starts at $95.

5. White Water Rafting: No matter which place you visit in New Zealand, you will find a place to go for white water rafting. Since the country has a large number of mountains, forests and mountainous terrain, the water flowing through the narrow gaps often pick up enough speed to do white water rafting.

For people who are not well-trained in rafting, they can try Grade 1 river rafting in calm water, while extreme sports lovers can choose to do grade 5 rafting.

Location:Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua, Taupo, etc.
Price:Starts at $89.

6. Jet Boating: This is one of the inventions of the locals for extreme sports lovers. Adventure in New Zealand will remain incomplete if one does not take a go at jet boating, where nippy boats, with high manoeuvre tolerance, zooms past the narrow gorges at a high speed and can do 360-degree spins.

Location:Queenstown, Taupo, Waikato River, Dart river etc.
Price:Starts at $150.

1. Cardrona: Skiing is one of the popular New Zealand adventure sports that many young and adult partake in. Many locals prefer skiing in Cardrona because it has a strong infrastructure that is important to ski safely, and a huge terrain park to accommodate large groups of skiers.

This place is perfect for tourists and locals who live in Queenstown and Wanaka, as this skiing spot is in the middle of both the places.

2. Treble Cone: It is the largest area for skiing on South Island, attracting mostly intermediate and experts. The spot also receives the highest annual snowfall in the country, making it a favourite spot for many people. It features natural free-ride terrain and steep trails.

3. Remarkables: For anyone who is new to the skiing scene and is just a beginner, The Remarkables in the Queenstown area offers the best experience of adventure sports in New Zealand. The place is family-friendly with alpine scenery and picturesque mountains in the backdrop.

1. Auckland Harbour Bridge: Bungee jumping from the top of the Auckland bridge and diving straight down 40m, meeting the ocean before going back up, gives all the adrenaline rush you need for one day.

Bungee jumping isone of the popular New Zealand adventure sports, so almost all of the bungee jumping spots, including Auckland Harbour bridge, have strong infrastructure that follows the safety regulations.

2. Taupo Bungee: Share the excitement of bungee jumping at Taupo with a partner that allows people to choose a tandem jump. The 47-metre drop will send you swinging down the cliff top while you touch the Waikato River below.

3. The Nevis Bungy: If you haven’t experienced bungee jumping in Nevis Bungy, then you have not done adventure in New Zealand right. This 134-metre high drop is the highest free-falling drop in the country and third highest in the world.

4. Canterbury: The only adventure activity in Hanmer Springs, this Bungee-jumping is ideal for beginners. It is not as high or wild as other Bungy spots and the 35-metre fall to the Waiau River is quite tame, making it ideal for beginners.

1. Abel Tasman: If a person likes a picturesque location of greenery to look at while they do the skydive, Abel Tasman should be on top of their list. The granite cliffs, the ivory beaches, and the greenery of the Abel Tasman National Park are undeniably one of the most gorgeous locations.

2. Bay of Islands: If you want more than one island to look at while you skydive, choose Bay of Islands. While you jump out of the plane to experience the exhilaration of flying with the birds, 144 islands located in the area beneath you will catch your breath.

3. Fox glacier: Islands and National parks are great to look at, but Fox glacier takes the game a notch higher with the majestic Southern Alps glacier in the backdrop. This is a drop that consists of the rainforest of the national park, snowfields, and blue ocean, you will remember forever.

4. Glenorchy: The small alpine village beneath you, with forests and chains of white imposing mountains is perfect for a beginner to enjoy while skydiving at Glenorchy.

1. Rotorua: Rotorua is a favourite among adventure sports lovers for various water sports and other adventures sports in New Zealand, of which River rafting is one. Natural wonders and scenery to enjoy while people raft through the narrows gorges in thrilling and challenging rapids make it a perfect location.

2. Vector Wero Park, Auckland: Unlike other places, this is a man-made white water park that allows even beginners to enjoy the thrill of rafting. It offers two options to enjoy the popular New Zealand adventure sports. The two courses are split in a way so that both beginners and experts can take part and enjoy it best to their skills.

1. Waitomo: Walk through the Waitomo caves, and enjoy the glowworms lighting up the walls and allowing tourists to have a surreal experience. Tourists can also take a boat ride to areas that are inaccessible by foot.

2. Ruakuri Cave: For anyone with an interest in history, anthropology and rock formation, this cave is the best place to take a trip to. Similar to Waitomo, these caves have glow worms too.

3. Ngarua caves: It is one of the hidden gems of New Zealand as the trail in this cave is easy to cover for people of all ages. The fossil and bones of Moa make it the favourite of many historians and anthropologists.

1. Doom Creek Canyon, Nelson: This canyon is located in Mt. Richmond Forest Park and makes for an excellent spot for New Zealand adventure sports. This canyon is perfect for beginners as well as experts. It depends on how high people want to climb before launching into the gorgeous blue pools below.

2. Milford sounds: When partaking in adventure sports in New Zealand, kayaking in Milford is a must. The views of the inky water, combined with mountains, waterfalls and wildlife is the best way to end any day.

The best time to visit New Zealand is during summer, December through March. The days are long and bright and the temperature is normally between 16°C to 24°C, making it perfect weather for various water activities.

Mild spring temperature in September through November is good for hiking and mountain biking.