Join us for a relaxing cruise along the magnificent Lake Taupo aboard The Ernest Kemp, a beautiful vintage replica steamboat!
Lake Taupo, one of the largest freshwater volcanic craters in the world, is home to the famous Maori Rock Carvings.
Only accessible by boat, we will get you the closest to these incredible 10 metre high carvings which tower high over New Zealand’s largest lake.
Learn about the spiritual and cultural significance of the area from your skippers interesting and informative commentary.
With comfortable seating both inside and out, bathroom facilities and a licensed bar, we’ll ensure your cruise on the Ernest Kemp will be warm and comfortable.
Your skipper even welcomes you to join him in the wheelhouse and take a turn at the wheel!
The Ernest Kemp cruise is an enjoyable outing and a great way to see the Maori Rock Carvings and to get out onto Lake Taupo.
Cruise Duration:
10:30am, 2pm, 5pm and 7pm = 2 hour (approx).
12:30pm = 1.5 hour (approx).
Awesome feedback Tanya, great to hear our valued customers are having fun out there! We are very proud of our little team, their skill and experience on the water and connecting with our guests makes it one exceptional experience. I am glad you had such a great time. Thank you very much for the recommendation!
Awesome photo Melody, I am glad to hear your family had a wonderful time cruising with us. I am sure your time spent onboard with family was treasured. We appreciate the great review, Thank you :)
Love the photos Himanshu! Great to see your family had an excellent time! Thank you very much for joining us :)
It’s good to go around lake Taupo but it’s crowded and congested as it is very small to hold those many people... as we are 14people with 3kids.
Disappointed in the 1 star review Amulya, considering all factors: You had booked a stunning Easter Saturday for 14 people - this is quite possibly the busiest weekend of the year. Every commercial cruise operator here had been fully booked for each cruise on this day, and most of the days either side. which means every boat option would have been sold out and felt a little more 'crowded'. We had earlier seen your larger booking across different platforms and reserved ample seating for your group so as to sit comfortably together. We do not need to do this, but chose to as it worked for you. It is a good thing we did, as your group were the second to last to check in. There would not have been 14 spaces all together for your family without our reserved seating. We were not yet at capacity either, we choose to operate our cruises below our legal limit for our passengers comfortability. While we absolutely appreciated your group having booked with us, you need to understand that you are one of the lucky ones who managed to board a lake cruise this wekend. Plenty were unable to due to the volume of visitors arriving here on the day of.
Ernest Kemp cruise was the right choice. The crew was great. It was ontime and sparkling clean. The service was amazing. My whole family just loved the experience. It offered great views of the lake and carvings. The commentary was really explanatory. I would recommend the cruise to everybody travelling to Taupo.
Hi Anand, Thank you very much for a detailed and excellent review! We do our best to keep Ernest Kemp in great condition for each passenger to enjoy. Our little team enjoy what they do and it is so nice to have great feedback from our valued guests to pass on :) Thank you for joining us Anand, it was our pleasure.
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Tanya Tapatuetoa from New Zealand wrote on 24 July 2020
Rocky at first, smooth sailing back!
Great Skippers, one of which was a woman who prepared us by giving us the option to pull out and reschedule as it will be a rocky trip there due to the whether. We still went and it was a wonderful, fun and rocky experience but smooth sailing back. She went out of her way to explain how the boat works, it’s history, dynamics and even offered us blankets, towels from a few splashes and was very welcoming. The ride was fantastic and we all had a great time. A must do in Taupo