Hawke's Bay Gannets: Where To See Them Up Close

Where Can You See Gannets In Hawke's Bay?

The Hawke's Bay gannets nest at Cape Kidnappers DOC puts the colony at 6,500 pairs and calls it the largest and most accessible mainland colony in the world. The birds nest on a privately owned plateau above the cliffs, and close-up viewing means either an overland tour across the working farm or a long Expert-graded beach walk.

The gannets, takapu in te reo Māori, have nested at the cape since the 1870s, and their numbers have grown steadily since. What makes the site unusual is not just the size of the colony but the access. Most gannets breed on remote offshore islands; here the nests sit on farmland at the top of a cliff, and a 4WD track crosses the farm to reach them. That single geographic fact shapes almost every decision a visitor makes.

Australasian gannets are genuinely striking birds, with a wingspan of about 1.8 m, pale gold heads and black wingtips. They fish by folding into a dive from height, and in season the air above the colony is busy with birds coming and going from the sea. Weather permitting, a visit in the breeding months comes with no promise of any particular stage of the cycle on any given day.

There are three ways to stand near the nests. The overland tours run by Gannet Safaris Overland cross roughly 2,500 hectares of private farmland and native bush to a nature reserve above the cliffs. The DOC beach walk from Clifton is 19 km return, graded Expert, and is possible only around low tide. And two alternatives, a self-guided fat-bike ride and a tide-dependent tractor ride along the beach, suit travellers who like a slower, shoreline approach to the cape. The rest of this guide works through each of them, because the right choice depends on your fitness, your time in port or in town, and the season.

How Big Is The Cape Kidnappers Gannet Colony?

DOC puts the Cape Kidnappers colony at 6,500 pairs, which makes it, in DOC's own words, the largest and most accessible mainland gannet colony in the world. The nesting birds are spread across more than one site: Black Reef, 7.5 km from Clifton on the beach route, and the Plateau colony on private land, which DOC calls the best place to view nesting gannets up close.

The colony is not one dense mass but a series of ganneries along the cape. The Plateau colony, the destination of the overland tours, sits on flat ground with bench seats where visitors can sit and watch the birds at close range. Black Reef is the first nesting site on the walking route, and a steep, rough, muddy climb of about 1 km leads on from there toward the second colony. Close-up views of nesting gannets are possible at both the Plateau and Black Reef sites.

The birds' life history rewards a slow look. Adults arrive back at the cape from around July for courtship and nest building. When a chick fledges, it flies across the Tasman Sea to Australia, a crossing of about 2,800 km, and typically returns in its third year.

For the options and prices side by side, the figure below sums up the gannet tours at Cape Kidnappers.

If the raw numbers spark a deeper interest, the guide to how many gannets nest at Cape Kidnappers unpacks the counting and the history behind the 6,500 pairs figure.

Which Gannet Tour Should You Book?

For most visitors the choice comes down to three shared and private options: the 3-Hour Tour that meets at the operator's base from $56.23 per person, the lowest-priced 3-Hour Tour from $55 per person, and the Private 4-Hour Tour from $704.30 per group of up to 4. The two 3-hour tours are close in price; the private tour buys a vehicle to yourselves and a 45 minute stay at the colony per the itinerary.

The standard tour that meets at Clifton, 4.9 across 1,052 reviews, is the most reviewed tour listed here. 3-Hour Tour, Meet at Base costs from $56.23, with hotel pickup selectable at booking; otherwise meet at Clifton Road, Te Awanga. 3-Hour Tour, Lowest Price runs from $55, meets at the base with no pickup, and carries 4.8 across 378 reviews. Cruise passengers have a separate decision again: the two shore excursion products are the only options built around the ship timetable, and the standard 3-hour tours are not for cruise passengers. That comparison has its own page in the Napier shore excursion gannets guide.

The table below lines up the core facts side by side. Prices are USD "from" prices as shown at booking; the private tours are priced per group of up to 4, so they should never be compared with the per-person tours without saying so.

Every option in the table carries free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, which matters in a region where coastal weather can change a day's plans. The from $55 3-Hour Tour, Lowest Price meets at the base at Te Awanga; walking is not required there, and a jacket is advised. Travellers without a car can add optional hotel pickup to the from $56.23 3-Hour Tour, Meet at Base at booking.

What Does The Overland Gannet Tour Actually Include?

The standard overland tour is a 3 hour trip in an air-conditioned minivan across a working farm to a privately owned nature reserve above the cliffs, with coffee or tea served. The operator says little or no walking is required, everything can be seen from the vehicle, and the plateau itself is flat ground with bench seats. The base at 396 Clifton Road has the last toilets before the colony.

The route matters as much as the destination. Cape Kidnappers Station is a working farm of roughly 2,500 hectares with a predator-proof fenced conservation area, and the drive crosses farmland and native bush rather than public road. Because the tour travels above the cliff tops, the operator says the overland tours are not governed by the tides, unlike every beach-based way of reaching the colony. Tea, coffee and a biscuit are served at the colony itself, and the standard tour also lists coffee and tea among its inclusions.

A few practical points are worth knowing before you book. Dogs are not allowed, as the reserve is a wildlife sanctuary and DOC reserve. There are no toilets on the tour itself; the last ones, which the operator describes as good bathroom facilities, are at the base, where a large off-road car park has room for several motorhomes. The standard tour is not wheelchair accessible but is pushchair accessible, and service animals are allowed. The private tours run for your group of up to 4. The full detail on the flagship option is in the Gannet Safaris Overland tour review.

Group size is the quiet difference between the products. The standard tour runs for 3 hours, the shore excursion for 4, and the private and sunrise options are booked for your own group. For photographers, a smaller group means more room at the bench seats and fewer elbows beside the long lens; the Cape Kidnappers gannet photography guide covers what to expect from the plateau light.

When Is The Best Time Of Year To See Hawke's Bay Gannets?

Tours run from 1 August to 30 April, but DOC's best viewing window is early November to late February, when the nests are occupied and chicks are being raised. Book a date inside the November-to-February window if close-up nesting views are the point of the trip.

The season has a rhythm worth understanding before you pick a date. Gannets lay a single egg, both parents incubate it on their webbed feet, and by the height of summer the colony is at its busiest and loudest. The operators describe the plateau as safe, easy flat ground, and the birds carry on around the viewing area largely unbothered, though nesting birds dislike loud noises and fast movement and visitors are asked to keep behind barriers or at least five metres from the nests.

Two closures shape the off-season. The tours stop entirely between 30 April and 1 August, and the DOC track from the beach to the plateau colony is closed from July to the week before Labour Weekend each year to limit disturbance to returning birds. The Cape Kidnappers gannet season guide carries the full calendar detail. Napier's cruise ships visit from October to April, which lines up neatly with the tour season for shore excursions.

Timing within the day matters less than the date. The sunrise products, a 3-hour private tour from $636.15 per group meeting at Clifton and a 3-hour private tour from $604.00 per group with pickup included, put a small group on the plateau at first light with a gourmet breakfast of pastries, fresh fruit and yoghurt, plunger coffee and juice on the Clifton version. Neither has enough reviews yet to carry a rating.

Can You Walk To The Gannets Instead Of Taking A Tour?

Yes, but it is a serious walk: 19 km return from Clifton, graded Expert by DOC, with at least 5 hours needed for a comfortable return trip. The beach walk is possible only around low tide, high tides and big seas block the beach, and you must leave the Cape no later than 1.5 hours after low tide. The walking route is affected by closures, so check DOC's safety alert before setting out.

The walk starts at Clifton, Scotmans Point, and follows the shore to Black Reef, the first nesting site, 7.5 km away. Beyond Black Reef a steep, rough, muddy climb of about 1 km leads on toward the second colony. DOC says the best place to view nesting gannets is the Plateau colony, on private land, and the beach track connects to it. The stretch is beautiful and exposed in equal measure, and about 7 km of the beach lies under cliffs subject to significant landslide hazard; a landslide seriously injured two tourists in January 2019 and another large landslide in February 2020 closed the beach for a time. DOC reports three serious injury landslide events in the past 50 years and large landslides every year, and says the status of the track can change at any time.

Recent changes at Clifton itself matter to walkers and bike riders. Clifton Motor Camp closed on 20 February 2026 after a geotechnical assessment found unstable land above it, was permanently closed in July 2026, and in August 2026 Hastings District Council voted to close a section of Clifton Road at the former campground to vehicles. Pedestrian access to Clifton Beach and the Cape Kidnappers walking route stays open. The operator base further up Clifton Road has not been reported as affected. DOC's advice on what to carry is firm: sturdy footwear, food and water, sunscreen and hats, extra clothing for cool sea breezes, a water and windproof jacket, gloves, a head torch and a communication device.

Two other self-guided options sit between the walk and the tour. Gannet Bikes runs a self-guided fat-bike ride from 475 Clifton Road, 3.5 to 4 hours in total, needing at least intermediate fitness, with bike, helmet, spare tube, pump and map supplied and a short walk to the plateau colony at the end; check its own site for details. Gannet Beach Adventures has offered a tide-dependent tractor-trailer ride along the beach from Clifton, but its status is unconfirmed, so check its own site for whether and when it runs. DOC treats beach transport as a high-risk operation and describes the overland route across private farmland as a lower-risk option. The full comparison, including the tide rules in detail, is in the Cape Kidnappers walk versus overland tour guide.

How Much Do Gannet Tours From Napier Cost?

The 3-Hour Tour, Lowest Price ($55 per person, 378 reviews) meets at 396 Clifton Road, Te Awanga, with no hotel pickup at all. A jacket is advised, and no walking is needed at the colony. The Meet at Base twin costs from $56.23 per person, and hotel pickup there can be added at booking. Shore excursions run from $93 and $95.42 per person. Private tours are priced per group, from $604 to $1,214, and should not be compared per head without saying so.

Those figures are USD "from" prices as shown at booking, per person or per group exactly as the basis states. The two per-person 3-hour tours are the value benchmark: between them they carry 1,052 and 378 reviews, and both can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before start. What the extra dollars buy further up the range is pickup at your accommodation, a vehicle to yourselves, a longer 4 hour itinerary with a stated 45 minutes at the colony, or, at the top, a full day that pairs the gannets with Hawke's Bay wine country.

The private tier deserves a note. The Private 4-Hour Tour, from $704.30 per group of up to 4, runs about 4 hours with 45 minutes at the colony per the itinerary and coffee or tea included, though it has too few reviews for a rating. The pickup-included private version, from $688.00 per group, starts at your accommodation and includes morning and afternoon tea or coffee. And the winery combo, from $1,214 per group of up to 2, is a 7.5 hour day in a luxury Range Rover, picking up around 8:30 am and back by 4:00 pm, pairing the colony with cellar doors. More detail on that tier is in the private Cape Kidnappers tour guide.

What Should Cruise Passengers Know About Seeing The Gannets?

Only the two shore excursions, from $93 and $95.42 per person, are built for cruise passengers; the standard 3-hour tours are not. Both excursions meet at 100 Marine Parade, opposite the Napier Museum, about 200 m from where the port shuttle drops at the i-SITE. They run about 4 hours, so check the ship's all-aboard time before booking.

The port logistics are the part first-time visitors underestimate. Passengers can walk down the gangway onto the wharf but cannot walk out of the port; a shuttle runs to two stops, the Napier i-SITE and the National Aquarium of New Zealand, and taxis cannot enter the port. The return shuttle leaves from the i-SITE, which puts the Marine Parade meeting point within an easy walk of the drop-off. On some ship days the operator collects passengers directly from the port because of short port times, and departure times are set per ship.

The two excursions differ in vehicle and detail. The 4-Hour Shore Excursion, from $95.42, travels by air-conditioned vehicle, includes coffee or tea, allows up to 40 travellers, and sets aside 45 minutes at the colony per the itinerary. The 4WD safari version, from $93, uses a 4WD safari vehicle with hot drinks served, roughly 25 minutes each way by coach out of Napier. Both meet at the pink flag area in front of the Sound Shell next to the i-SITE, and both carry free cancellation up to 24 hours before start, which matters if the ship's itinerary shifts.

What Else Lives At Cape Kidnappers?

The gannets share the cape with white-fronted terns, variable oystercatchers, reef herons, Caspian terns and little blue penguins, which nest around the cape. The reserve sits inside a predator-proof fenced conservation area on a working farm, which is why the rules are strict: no dogs or horses, no vehicles off the beach, no fires or camping, and drones on conservation land need a DOC permit.

For a birdwatcher, the cape rewards lingering at the bench seats. The gannets themselves provide the spectacle: pairs reinforcing bonds with bill-fencing displays, birds returning with fish, and the constant commuter traffic between colony and sea. Keep behind the barriers or at least five metres from the nests, and keep voices low so the birds can go about their business.

One safety note applies to every visitor, walker or tour guest alike: the area is susceptible to tsunami, and a siren or alert means moving to higher ground immediately. DOC's Hawke's Bay office can be reached at napier@doc.govt.nz or 0800 275 362 for track conditions and reserve questions.

Is A Hawke's Bay Gannet Tour Worth It?

For almost every visitor, yes. The per-person tours cost from $55 to $95.42, take 3 to 4 hours, and put you within a few metres of the largest mainland gannet colony in the world, which DOC counts at 6,500 pairs. No other mainland site in the world offers this scale of access, and the overland route removes the tide, fitness and landslide considerations that the 19 km beach walk carries.

The comparison is with the alternative. A walker who reaches Black Reef pays nothing but commits a full day, an Expert-graded route, tide windows and a stretch of cliff subject to landslides. A tour guest pays from $55, rides above the cliffs, and sits at the plateau colony with tea or coffee. For most travellers with a day in Napier, or a few hours in port, the arithmetic lands on the tour, and the 1,052 and 378 reviews across the two per-person 3-hour products suggest most visitors agree. This site, Napier Gannet Tour, exists to help you make exactly that call with real figures rather than brochure copy.

Common Questions About Hawke's Bay Gannets