Situated right in the heart of North Island in New Zeland, Great Lake Taupo is a quiet version of Queenstown, the south island’s big adventure and party capital. But you’ll find a vast array of activities in, on and around Lake Taupo that you cannot miss!

Nonetheless, Taupo is one of the rare destinations that offer plenty of wonderful fun activities for the adrenaline seeking junkies to the safety conscious families. To help you get the most out of your visit, I’ve put together a guide of top six activities to do in the Great Lake Taupo for y’all.

None of this would have been possible without Destination Great Lake Taupo! They hosted and arranged me all of the trips below on a complimentary basis.

Getting Bird’s Eye of the Great Lake Taupo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weNYDH_jq2g

Enjoying a magical scenic flight above the Great Lake Taupo by float plane is a must!

I cannot lie that the flight far exceeded our expectations. We had a totally different view of Lake Taupo. Flying over the geothermal area showed us the extensive effort and ingenuity in using the Earth’s energy. The aerial of Huka Falls is not to be missed.
Our pilot carefully positioned the plane for good views and was very informative.

Fantastic way to see the lake and surrounding areas. This is not for the faint hearted. If you have a fear of flying or small spaces avoid this but if you don’t I would highly recommend this. Make sure you bring your camera!!

Taupo’s Float Plane

• Address: Redoubt St, Taupo Town Centre 3330, New Zealand
• Email: info@tauposfloatplane.co.nz
• Website: http://www.tauposfloatplane.co.nz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Taupos-Floatplane-394315380743/

Skydiving above the Great Lake Taupo

If you haven’t already heard, Taupo is the world’s home of skydiving – their drop zones operate the most tandem skydives each year out of anywhere in this world! Not only that, Taupo is also the cheapest place in New Zealand to throw yourself from a plane (and survive), and with such incredible views you would be crazy not to skydive in Taupo!

The people who work there are awesome as hell and they have excellent humor of senses, I’m telling you. They even picked me up in a hummer limo with their logo on it! How sick is that???

They have renowned skydivers working there. The skydiver who did the tandem with me was the guy who did over 17,000 skydives already. That made me feel safe knowing that he’s an expert.  When I jumped off, I was immediately in awe of how beautiful Lake Taupo was. Unbelievable. 15k highly recommended. Besides, it was my first 15,000 feet drop and it was beyond words to describe!

Taupo Tandem Skydiving

• Address: 1105 Anzac Memorial Dr, Wharewaka, Taupo 3378, New Zealand
• Email: skydive@tts.net.nz
• Website: https://taupotandemskydiving.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaupoTandemSkydiving/

Jumping NZ’s Tallest Water Touch Bungy

I wasn’t even scared before jumping at all, but I definitely had butterflies in my stomach and that was the best part because I love that feeling. I’m a little bit of an adrenaline junkie in that way.

The water touch felt friggin’ great!!! It may seem like it hurts when you slap into the water, but it doesn’t even hurt a bit. I just love it as it give me a nice splash and cool off after the free fall.

Being nervous and whatnot before jumping is normal. Once you jump into a free fall, you’ll feel fearless and your insides would get all stirred up. I promise you that you will “find your scream” and it will be one of the best experience you’d ever had in your life.

Taupo Bungy & Cliffhanger

• Address: 202 Spa Rd, Taupo 3330, New Zealand
• Email: jump@taupobungy.co.nz
• Website: http://www.taupobungy.co.nz/en/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taupo.bungy.home/

Sail Barbary to the Maori Rock Carvings

Step aboard the Sail Barbary for Taupo’s most Iconic Cruise to the renowned Maori Rock Carvings. Seeing Taupo’s beautiful bays on the Sail Barbary gives you the perfect mix of relaxation, fun and adventure all at once.

On the boat, Coffee, tea and hot chocolate was included which was great because it can get quite cold when it is windy. I would recommend to put on warm clothes, even if it is a sunny day! Not only that, you can get warm with some beer as they do include it. You can bring your own booze as well!

The female skipper was so communicative and positive with Ryan and me. She was very informative as she went out of her way to ensure I knew and understood the history behind the Maori culture through the carvings we saw. Not only that, a female who takes us there is so sweet, communicative, and positive. I like it. It’s free drinks including beer or wine or coffee. Byob too. It’s real fun.

The boat is so pretty and all the guest are sitting on the top deck and there’s warm ponchos provide if there is rain or wind.The boat sailed a very smooth and pleasing cruise. Psst. if you don’t want to get wet, be sure to stay away from the front of the boat. =P

Sail Barbary on Lake Taupo

• Address: Redoubt St, Taupo 3330, New Zealand
• Email: info@sailbarbary.com
• Website: http://www.sailbarbary.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbarytaupo

Trekking the World’s Best Day Hike Amongst Volcanoes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSblTPR0Mpw

Want to take a hike that takes you through the heart of “Mordor”, passing by “Mount Doom”? To really immerse yourself in Mordor and feel the eerie barren landscape, trek the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.

The landscapes of Mordor and Mount Doom was filmed right in the World Heritage Tongariro National Park and it’s known as World’s Best One-Day Hike. Not only that, as a big fan of Lord of the Rings Trilogy films, I made it a dedicated trip to ensure I checked this off my bucket list!

And no, it’s not called ‘Mount Doom’ in real life. It’s actually called Mount Ngauruhoe. It was digitally digitally altered to appear as Mount Doom in the movies.

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Tongariro Expeditions

• Email: info@tongariroexpeditions.com
• Website: http://www.tongariroexpeditions.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tongariroexpeditions/

Seeing the Huka Falls of NZ’s Longest River, the Waikato River

At Huka Falls you can witness the phenomenon of natural hydro power – more than 220, 000 liters of water per second. 11m high, extremely powerful, turquoise-colour, Huka Falls is located on the Waikato River, just in 10 minutes’ drive from Taupo. The waterfall is one of the most visited natural attractions in New Zealand.

Wairakei Tourist Park

• Email: info@wairakeitouristpark.co.nz
• Website: http://www.wairakeitouristpark.co.nz/

Taupo i-SITE – Visitor Centre

Destination Great Lake Taupo

• Address: 30 Tongariro St, Taupo 3330, New Zealand
• Email: taupovc@greatlaketaupo.com
  
• Website: http://www.greatlaketaupo.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeTaupo

Accommodations

Base Backpackers Taupo

• Address: 7 Tuwharetoa St, Taupo Town Centre 3330, New Zealand
• Email: taupo@stayatbase.com
• Website: http://stayatbase.com/hostels/new-zealand-hostels/base-taupo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaseBackpackers

Transportation

This wouldn’t have been possible without Ezi Car Rental‘s sponsorship for my mode of transportation in New Zealand.

Ezi Car Rental

• Address: 105 Curran St, Westhaven, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
• Email: enquiries@ezicarrental.co.nz
• Website: http://www.ezicarrental.co.nz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ezicarrent/