Abel Tasman Private Yacht & Hiking

A specially tailored private guided trip using our 74ft adventure yacht as our base, enabling you to explore with us and enjoy the best Abel Tasman National park has to offer in a day. We provide walking and hiking trips in the park which can be combined with sea kayaking, with every trip personalised to suit you and what you prefer to see and do. Abel Tasman National Park has wide variations in tide times, levels and weather, so we plan each day to suit or spontaneously change on the day depending on your preferences to walk, kayak or just enjoy the scenic splendour of the park.

Built in Nelson around 20 years ago, “Sabatayn” has completed two circumnavigations of the world, and was for 15 years a treasure hunting ship based in the Mediterrranean and Caribbean. She has just received an 8 month, million dollar refit and we look forward to using her as our main yacht in Abel Tasman.

“Sabatayn” features on many of our Multisport and multiday scenic adventure overnight trips.

Our trip provides our private yacht, guide and skipper for the day, which enables you and our guide to be landed near the beginning of sections of the Abel Tasman track you would like to walk, and met later at points along the track.

The guide has a radio for contact with the yacht and can easily change the pickup point if you are tired, or if you wish to walk for longer. It also means we are never fixed to a schedule, and the day can be quite spontaneous.
We provide a delightful platter lunch, which you’ll enjoy aboard the yacht, which has large areas to relax and enjoy the day.

We also can combine hiking and walking with sea kayaking. We schedule the sea kayaking for morning or afternoon depending on the tide. If it is a morning high tide we kayak from Anchorage to Bark Bay, if it is an afternoon high tide we kayak from Bark Bay to Anchorage. This enables paddling into Torrent Bay and Falls River on the tide, and if it’s an afternoon paddle, paddling with the sea breeze back to Anchorage.

All our Abel Tasman trips originate from our base in Nelson, and the price includes collecting you from your lodge or hotel accommodation and return by luxury vehicle. Our trips are all hosted by your friendly and knowledgeable Simply Wild guide and we provide a fresh gourmet picnic lunch prepared by our Simply Wild chef.

Timing of the day is to suit you, but we are normally in the park for around 5 hours.

We also have a number of overnight packages, where you can enjoy the space that “Sabatayn” offers while spending a night in the park aboard.

How far are the walking sections?

Awaroa to Onetahuti or Tonga Quarry is about 5 – 6 km and generally takes between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 hours to walk from where we land near Awaroa Lodge. Onetahuti to Bark Bay is around 4km and takes around 1 1/2 hours. Awaroa to Anchorage is 21km and it is possible to walk the distance in 5 – 6 hours. We tend suggest walking the Awaroa or Onetahuti section as there generally less walkers on this section, and we like the views and perspective of the park.

What is the track like and what kind of footwear do I need?

The track is well formed with a firm surface, at least a metre wide in most places. It climbs from sea level with short climbs over low coastal ridges at times, providing great views of the park. Light walking shoes or trainers are ideal footwear. Boots are not necessary. Teva or similar sandals are fine, although the fine granite sand can be a little irritating when it gets between the sole of your feet and the surface of your sandal.

What else do I need for the day?

Shorts or light quick drying trousers, light wool or polypropylene travel shirt or T shirt, light fleece jacket, light windproof jacket, cap or hat, sunglasses, day pack, swimming costume, towel, camera, suntan lotion, insect repellent. We have plenty of spare clothing in our vehicle and can provide most items for the day such as daypacks if you require them. We do not have shoes.

Where do we sea kayak from and how long does it take?

If we are combining walking and sea kayaking, we tend to walk from Awaroa or Onetahuti to Bark Bay and then sea kayak from Bark Bay to Anchorage, however this is dependent on the timing of high tide. A high tide in the morning or afternoon enables kayakers to explore the lovely estuaries along the coastline.  The kayaking takes around 2 hours.