Bush and Beach — Local services in Albert-Eden

I recently went on the Hobbiton/Waitomo Caves tour with Bush and Beach and have nothing but good things to say about the tour company. Our tour guide was Michelle and she was absolutely wonderful. Not only is she incredibly interesting on a personal level (she used to have an ostrich farm!), but she is also very knowledgable about New Zealand's flora and fauna, as well as some Maori history. Additionally, she is a big LOTR fan, which of course makes her perfect for guiding a group to Hobbiton.

From start to finish, everything went very smoothly. Everyone on my tour was staying at a different hotel, and yet we were all picked up on time and with no delays. Michelle drove safely and was very punctual. We were running ahead of schedule at one point and she was able to stop and show us another great beautiful New Zealand spot.

At Hobbiton and Waitomo Caves you get site-specific tour guides (not employed by B&B), but since Michelle has done both tours multiple times she was able to give us some tips as to what to expect and what to ask our guides on these tours.

I won't write a specific review on either stop, as it doesn't really concern the company, but I will say Hobbiton is totally worth it (even if you're not a mega mega fan) and Waitomo is...eh, well, it's a tourist attraction that feels like a tourist attraction. In hindsight, I would have preferred...

My wife used this tour service to book a few tours and mainly for the tour to Hobbiton and the glow worm caves.

Pickup was very easy as they came right to our hotel at the four points Sheraton and when it went to pick up other people the driver would even walk around to look for people and I mention this because my wife mentioned how people complained that the bus didn't wait for them.. however I noticed the exact opposite.

The drivers for both days had a lot of tidbits of information making the drives interesting. The first day we had to change a bus early on because the bus picking everyone up was not the one for the tour, but the second day where the drive was long they had a bidet bus picking everyone up for long drives so they didn't have us change.

I really enjoyed our tours and I do believe it's worth booking with them. I couldn't get any pictures inside the glowworm caves because they weren't allowed, but I got several from Hobbiton and from the Waitakere ranges.

I would say it's an easy way to see some things around New Zealand and learn some interesting info from the tour guides. Will tell friends to use them...

We had an awesome experience with Bush and Beach for a tour to Hobbiton. Alex was a wonderful driver, filled with incredible amounts of knowledge and pleasant conversation. A tour guide can make or break your experience, and Alex truly made our day a memorable one - Thanks, Alex! Not only would we recommend Bush and Beach to family & friends because of their professionalism and attention to detail, but also because of the welcoming & personal feeling that was shown throughout our tour.

I would also like to note that one of the reasons we booked this tour was because of the early start time (7am). Although we were visiting Hobbiton during the winter months and it's not 'very' busy, the early start time does help to avoid the mid-day crowd and gets you to the set before the day gets super busy. The lunch option at Hobbiton (included with the Bush and Beach tour that we booked) was another selling point for us!

I will 100% use Bush and Beach again in the future someday, and I would recommend them to anyone...