Tio Ohiwa Harbour Cruise & Oyster Experience — Local services in North Island

I never skipped this place before coz I loved their food. So I came from Auckland on Sunday and so looking forward for the same tasty oysters and muscles. So disappointed last Sunday we were the only customers at the time I ordered Oysters and they told me no oysters so i ordered 20 battered muscles and a container of marinated muscles. We were waiting for almost 30 minutes and we were the only customer there. I realised there’s a big difference with the muscle batter was thick so we had to take off all the batter and eat just a muscle it was overcooked and dried and oily. Then got home and tried my marinated muscles, to be honest they just put the chilled sauce in it and it tasted yuck 🤮. I prefer the marinated muscles from the supermarket. I told my neighbour how disappointed I was with their food and that’s when he told me that they have changed the owners. It’s very disappointing and I would never stop by there anymore. Slow customer service , raised the prices for low quality food!! And 36.00 for only 12 oysters?? Thats a same price for an expensive restaurant...

A friend and I took the Tio Ohiwa cruise on 2 January 2025. We found the two-and-a-half-hour cruise, including a visit to the oyster processing facilities and an excellent lunch of very fresh kai moana (seafood), to be very high qualiity. That the cruise was organised on the basis of tikanga Maori added an important dimension to the experience. We learned a lot of the local and natural history and about the aspirations of the iwi (tribes) for the guardianship of this special place and the empowerment of their young people. Highly recommended for both local people and visitors. Well done, the Tio...

We had a wonderful family cruise with Tio Ohiwa. Our group were aged between 86 and 2, and it was perfect for everyone. Learning about the history of the harbour, and the biodiversity was fantastic. It was extremely special to also have a Māori cultural element to the trip. The oyster farm itself is going through a refurbishment, it will be cool to see it develop. We were treated to an amazing seafood feast during the return journey. This is a special experience, I would recommend it...