Beyond The Blue — Local services in Devonport-Takapuna

We recently traveled to Australia and New Zealand with our immediate family (6 adults), and Beyond the Blue helped us with all the travel planning, and this was a trip of a lifetime - wonderful and memorable to say the least. We got three weeks of exploring the world with our boys and their wives, which was unforgettable, and we all absolutely enjoyed every aspect of the trip.

The trip exceeded our expectations, as did Steve, Helen and Imogen from Beyond the Blue, a Boutique Tour Operator. They were able to take our initial thoughts about what we all wanted to do in the two countries (Australia and New Zealand) and developed the perfect itinerary with options for us to consider, which was challenging because the six of us all wanted to explore a variety of things. They recommended different tours, hotels, and restaurants, all of which were unbelievably nice and wonderful, and gave us a feel for the different areas where we would be staying. They also made sure we had some downtime to rest a little between the exciting excursions.

They connected us with numerous tour guides, all truly knowledgeable and fantastic, at the various locations and ensured the tours met our expectations and allowed us to explore different parts of the countries. We visited numerous locations throughout the two countries, and they made sure all the travel connections were seamless by doing things like making sure drivers picked us up and dropped us off at the various locations and airports, recommending restaurants or making dinner reservations for us, thereby minimizing stress.

They also provided valuable information on the countries Visa requirements, travel insurance, and general information for both countries, which made packing for different weather conditions (e.g., diving on the Great Barrier Reef or visiting a glacier) easier. They also arranged and booked all of our internal country flights, which was very helpful.

Their attention to details and all the requirements made our trip easy and stress free so we could thoroughly enjoy our time in the countries. They even ensured that our son who has celiac disease was able to enjoy all the treats and delicacies from the various areas like everyone else since his food must be gluten free. All the restaurant suggestions provided by Beyond the Blue had a variety of gluten free options.

Please note that we worked with Beyond the Blue for over a year and a half because of the coordination with six people, and Beyond the Blue continued to provide stellar service during this whole time, even with last minute changes the week of travel AND during the trip. They were understanding, very responsive to all our needs and alerted us immediately if planned changes, like when our sunset cruise of the Sydney Harbor was canceled because of high winds. They immediately booked us for the next day and rearranged other outings to compensate for the changes, all of which were greatly appreciated. Additionally, when a Helicopter tour of the glacier was canceled because of weather, they made sure we knew about replacement activities right away, so we still got to explore the glacier but via boat instead.

We only wish Beyond the Blue covered more areas around the world because we would use them for all our world travels. We will be using them again to explore other places, including Fiji in the future, and we highly recommend them to anyone wanting to explore that part...

Update 2024: we loved working with Beyond the Blue so much that we immediately reached out to them to plan our next Australia adventure in June of 2024. Tara and Helen are absolute rockstars and are such a pleasure to work with. They helped us put together an amazing trip, made wonderful suggestions while we were in country, and were always available if we needed any assistance. Their service is unmatched! Highly recommend (again!)!!

We selected Beyond the Blue Travel to create our itinerary for our 2020 trip to Australia and New Zealand because we wanted a customized and unique experience through a local company and after my first call with Steven and Tara, I was completely sold that they were the right fit for our group. They were just very kind people who were clearly passionate about traveling, and they really listened to what our group was interested in and the type of travelers we were.

They were absolutely amazing from the very first communication all the way until our trip concluded. Every element of our trip was seamless, stress-free and effortless on our part; the boutique accommodations they set us up with were fantastic, and the activities and day trips they arranged far exceeded our expectations. We had some weather challenges during our trip that caused a few activities to be cancelled or changed; they were absolute rockstars in getting an alternate agenda set up for us last minute. It was also great having an in-country resource to help with other changes and questions along the way. I believe I have interacted with most of the team throughout the experience and they have all been fantastic to work with.

I am typically the trip planner amongst my friends and family, so giving up the controls for the planning our trip to Australia and New Zealand was a huge change for me! Beyond the Blue is truly first-class, full-service, and just a wonderful team to work with! We hope to visit both Australia and New Zealand again in the future and will absolutely go back to Beyond the Blue - as cheesy as it sounds, they made our trip a real trip of a lifetime! If you are considering utilizing local and passionate travel experts to help plan an unforgettable trip, I highly recommend...

While I usually do all the trip planning myself, it was worth it to hand over the process to Beyond the Blue.

We selected Beyond the Blue to set us up for our 2019-2020 month long trip to Australia and New Zealand. We saved for seven years to go on this trip, so expectations were high. We were looking for a customized experience that really emphasized the things we care about and we were not overly interested in being with a huge tour group. We wanted experts who knew what they were talking about and had first hand knowledge. We interviewed three companies on top of looking at doing it ourselves or going the group route. Steven and his team were the ones who really seemed to understand us the best. There are many options out there, but it is very true that you get what you pay for and this team is worth every penny. During our trip, we heard all the horror stories from other travelers who pieced their trips together themselves or went with other tour groups that clearly did not invest the same time or resources into giving their clients an amazing experience.

Communication was excellent, advice and recommendations were on point and we didn't have to worry about a thing. Flights, transfers, rental cars, everything was taken care of for us, we just showed up and it was all done. Accomodations were great, services were spot on and the activities and day trips they booked for us were exactly what we wanted. Small tours and spectacular experiences. Plus we had time to wander and explore things ourselves as well, which was important.

They are a wonderful team who we would absolutely use again in a heartbeat! Please consider them if you are serious about having a great and stress free travel experience. As their name states, they really do go above...