New Zealand — Bay of Islands & the Hauraki Gulf
Auckland's America's Cup waterfront gives way, a day's cruising north, to 144 subtropical islands where the swell dies at North Head and doesn't return — Waiheke's vineyards, Kawau's wallabies, the Bay of Islands proper.
Auckland stages the America's Cup and sends its fleet north into a run of subtropical islands that barely feel like open sea — Waiheke's vineyards forty minutes from the Viaduct, Kawau's wallabies descended from a governor's private menagerie, and the Bay of Islands itself, where Cook anchored in 1769 and the country's founding treaty was signed seventy-one years later. The swell dies at North Head and doesn't come back; what's left is flat water, warm water, and more anchorages than one charter could use in a season. It rewards slowness — a fishing camp Zane Grey made famous in the 1920s, a rock arch tenders still thread on a calm day, a Michelin star that landed on Waiheke in 2026. Nobody here is trying to impress anybody; that's rather the point.
“Auckland throws you a regatta; the Bay of Islands, a day north, lets you disappear completely.”
The gallery
Signature anchorages
The Pacific's most sheltered charter ground: short hops between 144 islands, Waiheke's cellar doors, and the rock arch at the Hole in the Rock.
- Russell (Kororāreka)The old capital — a Georgian whaling-town waterfront anchored by the Duke of Marlborough's 1827 verandah; good holding off the town wharf, a short run from Waitangi.
- WaitangiThe founding ground — anchor off the Treaty House lawns where Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840; a short walk to the carved waka shelter and Haruru Falls.
- Urupukapuka Island, Otehei BayThe biggest island — Zane Grey ran his game-fishing camp from here from 1926; now a pest-free reserve whose bulk shelters everything anchored on its lee.
- Roberton Island (Motuarohia)Twin lagoons — a narrow spit divides two tidal pools good for swimming and snorkelling, with a short climb to a full-circle lookout over the outer bay.
- Cape Brett & Motukōkako (the Hole in the Rock)The seaward edge — a lighthouse walkway above, a natural rock arch below that launches thread on a calm sea; exposed, so a look and a photograph rather than a night.
- Kawau Island, Mansion House BayThe Governor's retreat — Sir George Grey's 1845 house looks over a sheltered arm of Bon Accord Harbour; wallabies he introduced still roam the reserve.
- Man O' War Bay, Waiheke IslandAuckland's cellar door — anchor off the country's only beachfront winery tasting room, in a bay Cook named in 1769 for the kauri he saw as ship's masts.
The scene
Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta
New Zealand's oldest sporting event and the world's biggest one-day regatta, sailed on the Waitematā since 1840; the 2026 fleet ran keelboats, waka ama and a tugboat class off Westhaven in winds over 30 knots.
PIC Coastal Classic
A 119-nautical-mile drag race from Devonport to Russell, run every year since 1982 — upwards of 100 boats start under the Harbour Bridge, and the fastest are off Cape Brett before dawn.
Waitangi Day
New Zealand's founding anniversary, marked at the Treaty Grounds with a 5am dawn service and a day of waka, kapa haka and market stalls on the lawn where Te Tiriti was signed in 1840.
Michelin Arrives
New Zealand's first-ever Michelin Guide was unveiled in Auckland on 30 June 2026; stars went to Ahi in the city and to Mudbrick on Waiheke, both a short tender from anchor.
America's Cup Capital
Auckland staged the Cup itself in 2000, 2003 and 2021, turning the Viaduct into a temporary city of challenger syndicates each time; the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron at Westhaven has held the trophy since Team New Zealand's 2017 win.
Zane Grey's Anglers' Eldorado
The American novelist ran his game-fishing camp from Otehei Bay on Urupukapuka Island from 1926; the marlin and swordfish he wrote about made the Bay of Islands' name almost overnight.
Table & stay ashore
Ahi
Ben Bayly's Commercial Bay flagship — Cuisine's Restaurant of the Year in 2024 and, from June 2026, one of Auckland's Michelin stars in New Zealand's first-ever Guide; ten minutes by tender from Silo or the Viaduct.
Mudbrick Vineyard & Restaurant
Waiheke's vineyard table above Church Bay, Auckland's skyline across the water; took a Michelin star in the same inaugural 2026 Guide, the only one on the island.
The Duke of Marlborough
Russell's waterfront dining room, on New Zealand's oldest hotel licence — dated 1840, on a pub that's burned down and been rebuilt four times since 1827.
Eagles Nest
Five private clifftop villas above Russell, each with its own pool, set across 75 acres of bush with the Bay's islands laid out below; a Porsche comes with the keys.
Delamore Lodge
A four-suite hillside retreat above Owhanake Bay on Waiheke — infinity pool, cave-style jacuzzi, Michelin Guide-listed, 35 minutes by ferry from the city.
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
New Zealand's oldest yacht club, founded 1871, at the foot of the Harbour Bridge in Westhaven — custodian of the America's Cup since Team New Zealand's 2017 win.
A week, sketched
Day 1 — Auckland to Waiheke Island
Board at Silo Marina or the Viaduct beneath the Sky Tower, then cruise the Waitematā past Rangitoto and North Head to Waiheke; anchor off Man O' War Bay or Oneroa for a vineyard dinner ashore.
Day 2 — Waiheke to Kawau Island
A slow morning at a cellar door, then north past Tiritiri Matangi's bird sanctuary to Kawau; anchor in Bon Accord Harbour and walk up to Sir George Grey's 1845 Mansion House.
Day 3 — Kawau to Tutukaka & the Poor Knights
Run up the Northland coast to Tutukaka, gateway to the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve — diving and snorkelling water Jacques Cousteau rated among the world's ten best.
Day 4 — Poor Knights to the Bay of Islands
Round Cape Brett and, sea allowing, thread the tender through the Hole in the Rock at Motukōkako before dropping anchor off Russell for the night.
Day 5 — Russell, Waitangi & Urupukapuka
Walk Kororāreka's waterfront and the Treaty Grounds in the morning; cross the bay to Urupukapuka for lunch at Otehei Bay and an afternoon on its walking tracks.
Day 6 — Roberton Island & the Cavalli Islands
Snorkel Roberton's twin tidal lagoons, then push north to the clear water and sandy anchorages of the Cavalli Islands, off Matauri Bay.
Day 7 — Kerikeri & Departure
A gentle run up the Kerikeri Inlet past orchards and mission-era buildings to Bay of Islands Marina at Opua, or on to Kerikeri Airport for onward flights.
Pair with
Plan this water
New Zealand — Bay of Islands & the Hauraki Gulf
Auckland's America's Cup waterfront to 144 subtropical islands — Waiheke's vineyards, Kawau's wallabies, and the Hole in the Rock, all within a week's cruising north.