Kayaking in New Zealand - Tips for Tourists on Kayak Hire and Guided Tours

Kayaking in New Zealand is an awesome experience, with a wide selection of kayak tours. Surrounded by sea,there are thousands of kilometres of beautiful coastline, dozens of lakes scattered around the country, and numerous rivers, inlets and tributaries to explore in a kayak.

As a tourist you are probably going to want to hire a kayak. There are many companies that operate rentals by the hour for a quiet paddle in the local vicinity.Others hire out kayaks and equipment for bigger independent kayaking trips, while many also provide a choice of guided kayak tours .........all options can be for anything from an hour to several days!

Short kayak trips will be using sit on kayaks. Longer kayaking tours are best in sea or river kayaks where you sit in with a spray skirt to keep you dry, have a rudder, comfortable seating with back support and plenty of storage space.You will usually have the choice of single or double kayaks.

There are several novel kayaking tours including a winery tour by kayak in Northland and glacier kayaking tours in Canterbury and Westland. Other guided tours will take you down rivers, or lakes often including interesting local features, many of which can only be seen from the water. Taupo has many boat tours out to the Maori Rock Carvings, and kayaking is one option.

Two very popular 4 to 5 day kayaking tours are the Whanganui River in the North Island, or Abel Tasman National Park in Marlborough in the South Island.

So much of our coastline is only accessible by water, and you can enjoy beautiful pristine bush and wild life in it's natural habitat.New Zealand is a country with a wide variety of native birds, including many sea birds.

You can enjoy the marine life, and may see seals basking on the rocks, or even find dolphins appearing beside you.

Some of the most popular areas for kayaking include

• Bay of Islands
• Auckland
• Rotorua lakes
• Tauranga
• Taupo
• Nelson/Marlborough Sounds
• Kaikoura
• Westland - Canterbury for glacier kayak tours

Have a look at http://www.holidays-in-newzealand.com/kayaking-in-new-zealand.html for full details.