• Our Commitment to the Environment

Dell and Maria working in the Marae gardenAt Terra and Tide, we put the environment at the heart of everything we do. We know the incredible benefits nature gives us and we understand we are in a reciprocal relationship with nature and need to do everything we can to assist her at this time of both climate and biodiversity crises. That’s why we use our business as a vehicle to educate and inspire our guests to take care of the place we all call home and as a vehicle to do our fair share of conservation and restoration work in our locale.

We are proud to support the Tiaki Promise and we have incorporated Tiaki Promise into all our operations. You can see our commitment here

The Tiaki promise is a commitment to care for New Zealand, for now and for future generations created by seven public and private sector organisations who are major stakeholders in NZ Tourism being sustainable – Air New Zealand, Tourism Holdings Limited, Tourism New Zealand, Department of Conservation, Local Government New Zealand, Tourism Industry Aotearoa and New Zealand Māori Tourism. We are proud to share this with our guests and to educate them as to how they can be good visitors to NZ as well as share what we do to be an exemplar for the Tiaki Promise.

Gabrielle in front of area being protected to assist dotterel nesting at Church Bay
We are involved in a range of environmental and conservation activities as we believe in walking the talk. These include:

  • Predator control on conservation land near our home – we manage 40 bait stations and 10 monitoring tunnels to keep rat numbers extremely low to give our native bird species the chance to successfully breed
  • Dotterel protection – we catalysed a collaboration between a number of wildlife organisations on Waiheke Island to give an endangered shore bird a better chance of successfully breeding
  • We enable our guests to purchase trees for wetland restoration and this year we donated 120 trees for wetland restoration on Waiheke Island to improve our islands biodiversity, restore vital wetland habitat and improve carbon capture on the island
  • We volunteer at Community planting days to plant native trees on public land to restore biodiversity and enable wildlife to thrive and we enable our guests to be involved in treeplanting activities

We have been accredited climate positive for the 3rd year in a row and we have reduced the carbon intensity of our operations by 91% since we started our measurements – we now only emit 0.58 TCOe2 (metric tonnes of greenhouse gases per 100 customers) through the electrification of our fleet.

Gabrielle tree planting at Awaawaroa wetland

We have no single use plastic in our operations, we compost all food waste and have a waste minimisation plan for other waste streams.

Our Managing Director, Gabrielle drafted the Waiheke Island Community and Sustainable Tourism strategy on behalf of Project Forever Waiheke and presented it to the local board who adopted it and used it to guide our sustainable tourism actions for our community including communicating to visitors to the island about how to reduce their impact when they travel to the island.

We volunteer at the local Marae to assist in the maara kai (food garden) to produce food available to all who need it to assist the island’s food sovereignty.

Justine, Dell, and Maria working in the Marae garden

We love our planet, our local home and we love what we do and we are proud to be operating as a regenerative tourism operator, always looking for ways to make a positive contribution to our environment, our community and our planet through our activities.

If you are interested in donating trees as part of your tour, please choose this option when you book or contact us if you would like to make a donation directly to Love our Wetlands to assist with restoring our island biodiversity.

2 July 2024

  • star rating  Great day on Waiheke Island with Lucie - had an excellent day hiking around the headlands with Lucie!!!! Had a nice orientation before we headed out and spent the morning hiking around the beautiful headlands of the... read more

    O9524BGjohnp
    11 March 2024

    star rating  Fabulous private tour with vineyard lunch - Our day with Nicky was wonderful! We were excited to find out it was a private tour! Nicky drove us all around the island and showed us so much in... read more

    marioshay
    1 March 2024

    star rating  Waiheke wonderland - My husband and I had splendid tour with Nicky who really did show us the best of Waiheke Island. We had several wine tastings, a super lunch and enjoyed many... read more

    Johanna E
    1 March 2024
  • star rating  A rewarding hike. - We really appreciated the knowlege of Gabrielle about the island, its history and the flora and fauna of the area. We learned so much about the positve steps NZ... read more

    BCistg
    25 February 2023

    star rating  Highly enjoyable introduction to cultural and natural highlights of the island. - Justine was super friendly and accomodating, and knowledgable about Maori culture and history as well as nature. She drove us to some interesting locations on the island, and after an... read more

    EvdWRotterdam
    27 February 2024

    star rating  Excellent four and introduction to Waiheke Island. - Fantastic tour! Walking and hiking with coastal views, and on a trail through the forest. Then an absolutely delicious picnic lunch on the Mudbrick winery estate before a lovely... read more

    karenbQ4590RK
    3 March 2023
  • star rating  Nikki was fantastic- her knowledge of the island & her delightful personality made the day very enjoyable. We were blessed with stunning weather & Nikki showed off the best of... read more

    B195
    15 March 2024

    star rating  WAIHEKE FUN DAY - It was a great day of a hike, pi cnic on the beach and because we requested it , wine tasting..Justine was knowledgeable, pleasant, accomodating and just a fun day.

    GerriMolin
    15 March 2024

    star rating  The perfect way to explore the Hauraki Gulf - We had a fabulous day out on board Pacific Star with skipper Bruce and walking guide Lucie. Can’t think of a better way to explore and learn about the history... read more

    AniHaf
    6 March 2023
  • star rating  Nydia was a lovely tour guide. The scenery was amazing. We had a tight schedule due to a flight and they modified the tour time to accommodate us. Great people... read more

    Abbey B
    4 March 2023

    star rating  Relaxed Day - Gabrielle"s wealth of knowledge of the flora and fauna of the island was amazing. Even though the weather meant plans had to change it was a most enjoyable day hiking... read more

    margaretg511
    14 March 2023

    star rating  Fantastic day out on a catamaran - We took a catamaran out with Bruce to Tiritiri Matangi Island. Not only was the island itself an incredible experience but Bruce was an outstanding and informative host. He let... read more

    Travel10852737093
    26 March 2024
  • star rating  Wonderful experience on Waiheke Island! - Although the weather was dull with light rain at the beginning of our hike, our wonderful guide Tyler engaged our attention right away with her knowledge of the flora and... read more

    John M
    26 February 2023

    star rating  This was such a great tour and hike of the island!!! It was such a beautiful day and our guides were awesome!! They were super friendly and knowledgeable and made... read more

    Stay20157446255
    3 March 2024

    star rating  Beautiful Day on Waiheke - I had the best day touring Waiheke Island with Maria of Terra & Tide. We discussed my interests when we met and she tailored the day to fit... read more

    Maps240818
    6 March 2024
  • star rating  An Absolute Must - Our time on Waiheke Island was amazing. Nicky, our tour guide, took us around the galleries on the main road of the island and if felt like walking through a... read more

    Road53601199255
    27 March 2024

    star rating  Perfect day away from the Hustle and Bustle - We really enjoyed the stunning views and bays of Waiheke isl. Tyler guided us during the walk and shared her great knowledge about the beautiful nature. Towards the end of... read more

    Enjoylifetooshort
    6 March 2023

    star rating  A fun way to meet some nice people and enjoy the lovely island.
    So much beautiful and creative art to see!
    A great way to tour around some different areas... read more

    Jo S
    21 April 2024
  • star rating  Hiking to Wine! 🍷 - Wonderful adventure to explore the island. Spectacular scenery. Wineries were amazing. Thank you, Dell, for your knowledge, hospitality, and kindness! Highly recommend this experience.

    Kyoungfnp
    20 February 2024

    star rating  Great time. - The hiking tour we took of Waiheke Island was one of our highlights to the Auckland NZ area. Tyler, our guide was knowledgeable, energetic and FUN! I highly recommend... read more

    Curious271653
    29 March 2023

    star rating  Great Tour of Waiheke Island! - We had most of a day to devote to touring Waiheke island and Gabrielle was an EXCELLENT guide! Very accommodating to our schedule, very knowledgeable about the island, a... read more

    Rick S
    7 March 2023
  • star rating  Excellent first day in NZ tour of Waiheke. - Having a lunch with my guide on the sandy beach. As it turned out, I was the only guest for the tour time and date I had chosen. ... read more

    Peter B
    9 March 2023

    star rating  Sailing - Fab journey, Bruce and Gabrielle great hosts
    Anchored up and swam, not much wind but all good, great food :)

    Bazzacam
    27 February 2023

    star rating  Loved our tour with Gabrielle - We really appreciated the knowlege of Gabrielle about the island, its history and the flora and fauna of the area. We learned so much about the positve steps NZ is... read more

    Karen B
    28 March 2023
  • star rating  Amazing, informative, and breathtaking! - This was our first stop on our honeymoon in New Zealand and our guide was Maria. I had done a lot of research on New Zealand and was really wanting... read more

    Inspire61871302980
    12 March 2024

    star rating  Perfect boat trip - We had the best tour. We started sailing and went to a beautiful island and hiked around and then had lunch and sailed back. It was just wonderful and we... read more

    jandrews
    15 April 2024

    star rating  Really knowledgable local guide and beautiful walk. Local history, geography, flora, fauna and current regeneration projects. Well worth it.

    EmmiTYR
    1 April 2023
  • star rating  What an amazing experience exploring the beautiful Waiheke Island with Gabrielle, a passionate nature lover with in depth knowledge of the flora and fauna of the island. Gabrielle also... read more

    Anthony N
    11 March 2023

    star rating  A Day on Waiheke Island - We had a wonderful day on Waiheke Island. Our guide, Nydia, was terrific. She was friendly, she told us all about the flora and fauna as well as... read more

    bergelsonjeff
    14 March 2023

    star rating  A great day out - I really enjoyed my day out. Lucie was a great guide, offering lots of information about the history of the island and the flora and fauna. The meet and greet... read more

    Surreyonsea
    1 March 2023
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