If lockdown restricts travel & operation of the cruise at the time it is booked, you may re-schedule your booking, hold a credit or opt for a full refund of the ticket price. See the Covid Policy page for more details.

We have a maximum of 16 passengers on our cruises.

You will find us on the beach at Paihia. We won’t be hard to find once you get there, just walk along the beach and you will see the boat anchored very close to the shore line. If you’re not sure search google maps for Barefoot Sailing Adventures and you will easily find us. The crew will be on board getting it ready for our sailing adventures so give them a wave and have a seat on a bench,  they will hop off to meet you on the beach when the boat is ready to board.

Absolutely! But not too wet -you will have to step into the water to get onto the boat. Sometimes it is ankle or calf deep, other times a wave will roll in and it may be up to your knees. So kick your shoes off and roll up your trousers before you step aboard. Sometimes we get the odd wave splash on the boat, it’s all part of the fun!

Just the usual – bottle of water, warm clothing/ jacket, footwear for island walks, swimwear, towel hat, sunglasses, sunblock (please not spray sunblock it eats the paint) and please do bring clothing that you can cover up with, the summer sun can be intense on your skin so be prepared for this as much as the possibility of cool wind.

Nope, just like the name suggests we are Barefoot Sailing Adventur-ers 🙂 Kick off your shoes at the shore and experience the Kiwi barefoot culture for yourself, it’s quite liberating!

No, the boat sits flat while sailing which means it is a very comfortable experience, especially for first time sailors or families with children. There is plenty of deck space and we have bean bags to relax on if you are sitting on the front half of the boat, the back half has seating.

Yes, our skipper loves to get people involved if they want to take the helm or help set the sails. There are some conditions or points of sail that it is not practical to have others helm the boat, but for the most part you are very welcome.

A light, tasty packed picnic lunch is all made in a handy bag ready for you to take with you on your island adventures, or eat on the boat when you return. It includes a delicious freshly made deli sandwich, fruit, muffin/cake, and a drink. It’s a nutritious lunch, with some goodies for the sweet tooth.  Vegetarian option available, please select how many vegetarian lunches for your group when booking.

We are limited to what we can do on the boat with lunches as we don’t have a full commercial kitchen, because of this we recommend that any special dietary requirements such as allergies, gluten free, vegan, or any specifics should be self catered for your personal safety and satisfaction.

Yes we do. We use the motor to get in and out of the beach to anchor. We just love sailing! So we like to sail as much as possible, the boat performs far better under sail than under motor so sailing it is! There are times where if there is not enough wind to reach our destination, or to keep to our time schedule we will have to use the engine – we don’t like to make anyone late to catch their ferry/bus.

Yes we do see dolphins, not every day but they are there and if they happen to be where we are sailing it is a lovely experience to see them play around the boat. We like to advise you that the resident dolphins in the Bay of Islands are very sensitive to human and boat interaction, we do not encourage any interaction with them, we will not follow them nor do we do any swimming with them. We prefer to leave them be to do what dolphins do best…be dolphins in the wild !!

We have children of all ages on our cruises, even babies on occasion. An ideal age is 4yo and upwards, however some families are used to being in the outdoors environment with younger children so if this is you then great! The trip is 1.5 hours sailing to island, 1 hour at the island, and 1.5 hours sail home. This is a good amount of boat time for kids,  we find they are usually entertained with all the goings on and the beach time is great. If your child is exceptionally active this might not be too well suited as we cant allow them to run around the boat, but gentle play is ok, and we are really happy for interactive kids to join the sailing.

Our experience is if both parents are very nervous on the boat the kids can be hard to manage, so one confident parent is the key to a good day sailing.  If you are unsure please call we are happy to chat with you about it, and we’d love you to enjoy an amazing family day experiencing the Bay of Islands with us.

Please note, the maximum number allocation we have for the boat is 16, so young children and even babies are considered a whole person and count towards this number so we can’t give tickets free/discounted for infants or toddlers.

New Zealand can be tricky to plan for with the weather particularly when choosing outdoor activities, so to be realistic you just have to be prepared for anything.

We do try our best and are very vigilant when it comes to weather, the skipper is well informed with different weather forecasting models.

Safety is always our foremost concern, and comfort. We are generally not too bothered by a rain shower here or there. It is an open boat, so we have rain poncho’s to cover up and stay warm/dry, or you can pop down into the cabins if you want. If the forecast looks like a serious day of rain we which will make the trip a misery we will postpone, as we would like our guests to have a good experience.

The skipper is experienced to make decisions based on the weather, and the final decision will be theirs (keeping in mind that we are reliant on information that is given to us, we can’t promise the forecast will be 100% correct).

We have strict operational policy to follow when it comes to weather cancellations. Cancellation of the cruise by the Barefoot Sailing Adventures Staff will happen on the morning of the scheduled cruise when we get the latest weather update possible, please check your emails at 8.30am for any updates. (We will try to make contact by phone the day before if we have early warning, but phone communication can be difficult with people traveling and possibility of bad reception, so always check your emails at 8.30am) If we decide to cancel a full refund will be given if we can’t make alternative arrangements for another day that suits your travel plans.

We understand that everyone has a different level of comfort when it comes to the weather, and we do our best to make everyone as comfortable as we possibly can. Sometimes people are not used to the wind, the sea state, salty splashes, or a bit of rain, or even the sunshine. But as Kiwi’s this is all part of our lifestyle, and it is how New Zealand has become so well known for it’s Adventure Tourism, because we are so good at it!

Cancellations- If you wish to cancel your cruise for any reason, there is a 10% non refundable fee. This fee covers booking fee’s and credit card charges and administration which we can’t recoup. 90% of the total price will be refunded to the credit card which was used to make the purchase. Normal transaction times apply.

Cancellations within 48 hours of cruise departure are non refundable.

If we make a cancellation due to weather, mechanical issues, or any circumstance out of our control we will give you the option to re-schedule, hold a credit for your booking, or receive a full refund.