Akaroa isite Visitor Information Centre
Information about Akaroa isite Visitor Information Centre
Opening hours
- sunday: 9h-17h
- monday: 9h-17h
- tuesday: 9h-17h
- wednesday: 9h-17h
- thursday: 9h-17h
- friday: 9h-17h
- saturday: 9h-17h
Our comment from TraTraTravel about Akaroa isite Visitor Information Centre:
The Akaroa i-SITE Visitor Information Centre is your go-to spot for exploring the charming town of Akaroa, New Zealand. Visitors consistently praise the friendly and knowledgeable staff who are eager to assist with planning your activities and tours, ensuring you have a memorable experience.
Some highlights from customer feedback include:
- Excellent recommendations for local attractions and activities, with specific mentions of staff members like Doreen who provided invaluable advice.
- A wide selection of souvenirs available for purchase, making it a convenient stop for gifts.
- Helpful resources for booking tours and activities, including well-curated maps and information on the best walking trails.
- Overall atmosphere described as warm and welcoming, contributing to a positive experience for visitors.
While most reviews are favorable, a few customers have reported instances of less satisfactory service, which the management is addressing to enhance the visitor experience. Regardless, the central location of the i-SITE ensures it's a convenient point for tourists to start their adventure in Akaroa.
Make sure to stop by the Akaroa i-SITE Visitor Information Centre to make the most of your time in this beautiful locale!
Akaroa isite Visitor Information Centre: Reviews
Fantastic experience: Special shout out to Doreen for the amazing help when I was planning my trip to Akaroa. Thank you for all the great recommendations and for patiently walking me through the different plans and very clear and detailed explanation. Had a great day trip at Akaroa :) if you guys are looking to plan a day trip and explore Akaroa yourself, you can reach out to them!
Jun, Thank you for your lovely review. Glad we could help you with planning your day trip to Akaroa. All the best and take care!
Positive experience: They were selling various Akaroa souvenirs and you can also book various tours.
Thanks for your review.
Fantastic experience: Loved it 'super customer service'
Thank you Rustom for your lovely review.
Positive experience: Great place for local information
Thank you Peter for the review.
Fantastic experience: Nice town nice view, love 'Akaroa'.
Kia Ora Wannito, Thanks for your review. Lovely to hear you enjoyed your stay in Akaroa.
Fantastic experience: Very helpful information about Akaroa
Kia Ora Phil, Thank you for your lovely review. We are happy that we could help you.
Positive experience: Helpful lady
Hello Margaret, Thank you for your review. It looks like we were not helpful enough to receive a 5 star review. It would be great to receive a full feedback via email [email protected]. Many Thanks.
Positive experience: Lovely lady in shop, couldn't be more helpful. Walked out on wharf for view and happened to go in store. Pleasantly surprised and ended up walking out with some purchases
Hi Natalie, Lovely review. Just not sure if you maybe talk about Black Cat Shop or Blue Pearl Gallery as we are not located on the wharf :)
Fantastic experience: I've spent a few days in Akaroa and went in the shop to see what I could do around town. Staff very friendly and went above and beyond to recommend activities. Doreen thank you very much for your friendly service and hope to see you again
Kia Ora Marie, Many Thanks for your lovely review. We are pleased you enjoyed your stay in Akaroa. We look forward to welcome you back another day!
Fantastic experience: Very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful giving us advice on tourist options around Banks Peninsula.
Kia Ora Andrew. Thank you for your review. Hope you had a great time exploring Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula.
Fantastic experience: Great information site and souvenir shop. The lady that was there when we went was lovely, friendly and very helpful. Highly recommend you pop in whether you're visiting Akaroa for a few hours or a few days. It's a great place to check out what's on offer and maybe grab a nice souvenir while you're there.
Hi Amelia, Thank you for your lovely review.
Positive experience: Very informative of where to go and what to see
Hi Nathan, Thank you for your review. Hope you enjoyed Akaroa. Please let us know what was missing to get 5 stars :)
Fantastic experience: Perfect serene place, old style with modern offerings. Stunning views and will be going back
Positive experience: Great shop, very helpfully friendly staff.
Hi Chris, Thanks for your review.
Negative experience: Spent ages trying to find the start of some of the walks but couldn't find them. Head to the Info Centre I thought. Explained my situation but they just advised me to buy a map (which is available as a free download on the www). The only advantage of this Info centre is that it is near some cool bars/restaurants and the people that work at those were able to help with directions/info.
Hi Jarod, we are always here to help and give guidance. This sounds more of a mis-communication. If you clearly say which walk/s you are after we will point you in the right direction. However the maps we provide are very clear and give all the information needed, especially if you don't have a specific walk in mind.
Fantastic experience: Friendly staff
Kia Ora Matt, Thank you for your review!
Positive experience: Very helpful
Hi Sue, Thanks for your review. Please let us know via email what we could do to receive a 5 star rating :) [email protected]
Positive experience: Good info and service
Thank you John for your review.
Fantastic experience: Friendly staff, hired a double kayak for 4 hours. Plenty of time to goto a number of beaches and have a picnic and swim, large bag storage easily held 2 backpacks and shoes, Do be aware it is not a “free roam” there is a set direction, but it is at your own pace and you can stop at any beaches you like
Hi, Thanks for your lovely review. Glad you enjoyed your kayak trip.
Fantastic experience: Very friendly staff Love their kayak hiring service Will come back for sure
Thanks Joy. Glad you enjoyed it.
Positive experience: They had a huge wall of information and a very helpful lady behind the desk. Also loads of souvenir options.
Hi Nina, Thanks for your review.
Positive experience: Ship to shore, at dock a tour bus around town all the sites, up to The Giants House need a couple of hours there. Love the town and lot of fun, very friendly people, found everyone so helpful....
Positive experience: Very friendly service. I had an item to return.
Thank you Martin for your review. Let us know what we can do to get 5 stars :)
Fantastic experience: The i-SITE Akaroa was helpfull for me and my friends to plan our time around. Really friendly staff which took the time and recommend us a lot of lovely places and activities which we can do in this such a nice place!
Dear Marie, Many thanks for your lovely review.
Fantastic experience: Great service and friendly staff
Thanks Graeme for your review!
Fantastic experience: Really helpful advices Staff take their time to make sure you will have the best time in Akaroa and all around the bays! A lot of cute stuff in the shop too!
Many thanks for your lovely review!
Fantastic experience: Very nice service!
Thank you Adam for your review!
Positive experience: Useful
Thank you Russell
Fantastic experience: Must visit in Akaroa
Hi Mika, Thanks for your review.
Negative experience: I am normally so impressed by the help in I site. However here a French lady called Adele really didn't appreciate being asked questions which made it rather awkward for me. As obviously I went into ask questions! I was asking about walks in the area! The people in local shops near by were much more friendly and helpful. Doreen who worked there was lovely who I spoke to rather taken aback from my experience with her college. I understand it must be frustrating to always be asked the same questions, but you don't like that i wouldn't work in I site. I'm afraid my experience was not pleasant at all. I see now after writing that there are several bad reviews about this Lady. I also never write reviews except when really shocked Like this. Maybe I site works like to suggest another job where I'm sure she can shine in what she enjoys doing!
Hi Nicola, This review came with a surprise and disappointment at the same time. As an i-SITE we truly try our best to answer all the questions our visitors have. However sometimes it is impossible or difficult to give the same answers to a customer who need to reassure themselves by repeating the same questions all over again. We still won't be able to change our answer. We do apologize if that made you somehow uncomfortable. Regarding the walks we do advise people to grab the walking maps which give more information and explanation we may not be able to provide. What is actually very disappointing is to mention staff names and which country the staff comes from. This is very unappropriated and we would appreciate if you can adjust your review, please. We strongly believe this is not of any importance. However we are glad that we at the end could give you some advice and help which should then not end up in a 1 star rating. Which seems to be very personalized and not the overall experience. We still hope you enjoyed our beautiful town and your walk you have chosen.
Negative experience: Went in today to get information about the Summit Drive. The female person serving us was extremely rude and unhelpful. She said it would take two hours and had no idea how many kilometres it was, and said she hasn’t measured it. I can’t believe i-site would want this person working in customer service. All other i-site centre employees that I have dealt with have been extremely helpful and knowledgeable.
Hi Brad, We apologize if our honesty (that we do not know the kilometers) has upset you. Unfortunately it is impossible to know the kilometers of every road. The trip is about 2 hours and we actually gave you this information without any rudeness whatsoever. Furthermore another staff member was able to estimate the time since he is a taxi driver as well. So he actually gave you the estimated kilometers. And to say just because of one thing we did not know, we are not helpful and knowledgeable is very disappointing and not true. So we cannot see any reason for such a review.
Positive experience: Good
Dear Rainer, Thanks for your review.
Positive experience: Good information
Hi Richard, Thank you for your review.
Negative experience: Some of the personnel there was quite rude with customers for no reasons, especially towards french speaking tourists... A bit surprising from a i-site visitor centre...
Dear Michael. We treat every customer the same. There is absolutely no reason to be rude to our french visitors. We are happy to have so many Nationalities visiting our beautiful village. We apologize if we may have sound rude for you but this is not how we treat our customers.
Negative experience: Very nice gifts and attraction tickets but they don't have relevant information about the tracks in the area.
Hi Yoni, We have a whole wall dedicated to walks plus all the walk maps. Furthermore our staff helps, explains as well. So not sure where you have been but it does sound you have not been in our shop.
Fantastic experience: First-class service given with a smile. Found us a room for the night on a busy weekend in Akaroa.
Hi John, Thank you for your review. Hope you enjoyed our beautiful town.
Fantastic experience: Lovely staff there who looked out for people like me who had no idea what else to do in Akaroa! There is WiFi here, if that's what you're wondering too
Dear Gareth, Thank you for your review. Enjoy your time in New Zealand.
Positive experience: Tourist information center. Just in the town. Easy to find. You can book your tour in akaroa there like dolphin sightseeing etc. You can get your stamps and any other souvenir near there. Very lovely town. One of the must go places in new Zealand
Thank you for your review. Much appreciated.
Fantastic experience: Friendly service
Thank you for your review.
Fantastic experience: Great place with a lot of information about the area. Friendly staff who can book the tours for you.
Dear Sanne, Thank you for your review. Enjoy your travels.
Positive experience: Handy for booking off ship tours
Thank you for your review. Hope you enjoyed Akaroa.
Fantastic experience: Very pleasant. People were friendly.
Dear Mary, Thank you for your review.
Positive experience: The i Site is 90% a sales shop. It feels cluttered and unstructured. The few informational materials cost money. No free brochures about hikes on Banks Peninsula. It's best to take a picture of the board on the facade outside. All the important hiking trails are listed there.
Dear Tamara, It would be nice if you could either retract your review or reconsider it. It is very sad to receive a bad review without reason! Yes, we also sell souvenirs (which most people appreciate). Unfortunately, we receive no support from the council like other i-SITEs. By selling souvenirs, we keep our i-SITE alive so that tourists like you have a place to get information and book tours, etc. 99% of our informational materials are free, as in all other i-SITES. Only the hiking brochures we unfortunately have to sell, as we do not get them for free either! Our visitors can gladly take a photo of the board outside or inside, and we are also happy to give tips, etc.
Positive experience: Lovely area, although the staff were run off their feet
Thanks Kristin. Yes, sometimes we can be quite busy :)
Fantastic experience: Very friendly welcome. At the end of the day, the bakery next door gives the unsold items to the Tourist Office, which sells them at a lower price (or even for free).
Negative experience: The staff was less interested in helping us find a nice walk and interested in trying to sell us on a boat ride we weren't interested in. Eventually another staff member came up and actually help us find a nice walk. Not a good experience.
Dear Adam, Thank you for your review. Sorry to hear that you have not been happy with our service. We always show our customer the map to have a look first on there own since there are many walks to choose from which are all very nice though. We still tell our customer other activity options and the cruise is highly recommended due to the different scenery and high chance of seeing wildlife. Lots of people usually appreciate that since they have not been aware of it.
Negative experience: Mean and rude staff. The brunette lady was so mean
Dear Sara, This sounds like a misunderstanding. Are you sure you are talking about the information centre? Could you please describe "rude' and especially "mean" a bit more. It would be much appreciated if you contact me via email: [email protected] or ring 033047784 and ask for the manager. Thank you and enjoy your travels.
Positive experience: Friendly staff but too small to deal with a group of people
Hello Jess, Thank you for your review. Unfortunately we cannot do too much about our size. Usually we are very efficient in serving customers so the waiting time is very short.
Negative experience: The lady who served me didn't know basic info about camping. Not even where there were campsites. Acted like she knew everything though. Disappointing for an I site which are usually so good and helpful.
Hello. Are you sure it was with an Akaroa i-SITE staff member? We know where the campgrounds are in Akaroa and the Banks Peninsula. They are even marked on our tear off maps. If it was for another area we are not able to know all the options since there are a lot in New Zealand but we do have some brochures to cover that as well.
Fantastic experience: very helpful people :-)
Thanks Ibrahim!
Fantastic experience: Great place for all your needs and lovely people to deal with!
Thank you Kristo.
Fantastic experience: Love Akaroa, great town to visit and could easily live there
Glad you enjoyed our beautiful town.
Negative experience: This is my experience of iSite and kayak rental in Akaroa. Me and my company booked two single kayaks. At the reception I was met by an unpleasant woman who stated that they did not rent single kayaks. Due to the weather that can suddenly be changed, and especially not to groups less than three people. I explained to the woman that we are experienced paddlers and have not received any information about it all when booked (which see said they had mailed) . The receptionist commented that we were late and had to hurry to the dock where twin kayaks were waiting! (yes, we were two minutes late) she would call the dock and say we were coming soon. Still unpleasant and grumpy. After a visit at dock where the Nice and stressed man told us that we could cancel and get a refund due to misunderstandings and lack of information. Back with the receptionist a loud discussion happend. The receptionist raised her voice and was incredibly unprofessional and unpleasant. She thought we were attacking her and made it clear our late arrival was on record and that no refund were going to happen. The receptionist colleague hid in the background and the whole store stopped and listened to our discussion that lasted for at least 5 minutes. I have never been treated so badly, especially in New Zealand where 99% of people are nice and helpful. The receptionist and her partner on the bridge were Germans. I do NOT recommend this place for several reasons. Recommend everyone to turn to another company!
Hello Louice, This review is very disappointing after speaking to you and trying to explain the situation. Furthermore mentioning nationality is absolutely inappropriate. Long after booking the kayak trip you asked for single kayaks and we replied asap that we rent out double kayaks for the half day. If there is a group of 3 for example, yes there will be a single kayak as well. However, you then went to the kayaks and decided not to go at all and came back to the shop saying you got told to get a refund. Which was not correct! And then the discussion started. At the end you still received a partial refund and an email. Kind regards
Positive experience: All good Could have better prices
Thank you for your review. Just to clarify that we have no influence of the prices the operators charge for the tours. Hope you enjoyed your time in Akaroa.
Fantastic experience: always nice to visit , most areas are expensive to eat , so we enjoy the better price at Akaroa fish & Chips :) edit " can i say I had a wonderful walk up Stanley Park right to the top with the family as per photo this park needs to be developed by the I-Site or local council so many opportunities missed
Glad you enjoyed your visit, Keiran.
Fantastic experience: The staff was very helpful. Took time to introduce what was happening on that particular day.
Thank you Eric. Enjoy your time in New Zealand.
Positive experience: New Zealand is really suitable for independent travel, one of the reasons is the i-Site.
Thank you
Fantastic experience: Reasonable
Thank you for your review!
Fantastic experience: From the stamp to the little Heitiki, as well as all the useful information brochures and flyers, up to tour bookings, you can find everything you need here! The staff is super friendly, helpful, and they don't hesitate to put in a little 'extra effort' through phone calls and inquiries with various tour operators! Thank you for the great service!
Thanks Kristina for your lovely review. Much appreciated! Enjoy your time in New Zealand!
Fantastic experience: It's been a year since we visited this city and we remember it as if it were yesterday!
Thank you, Dorian!
Fantastic experience: Very nice and helpful staff.
Hello Nichole, Thank you for your review!
Fantastic experience: Worth stopping at the I-Site to make the most of your visit in Akaroa. The staff is knowledgeable and can certainly recommend different tours, activities and walks to do around the area. Make sure you don't miss the wildlife! There are also tons of souvenirs and beautiful postcards available. Thank you!
Hi Abril, Many thanks for your review.
Fantastic experience: Hey guys! I‘ve been in akaroa for about 2-3 weeks and the local i-site just showed off a lot of activities and secret escapes all around the village. Evrn if there‘s a bunch of tourists, staff tries to be there for you with kindness and advice for trips.
Hello Alex, Thank you for your review. Glad that you enjoyed our beautiful village.
Fantastic experience: The staff is very nice and very knowledgeable about all the activities you can do in the region, especially the swimming with the dolfins activities! Note you can book all activities with them! It's nice to have a large overview and prices of the different options instead of going to each operator to compare. You can also buy souvenirs, postcards, stamps...
Thank you Theophile! Enjoy the rest of your New Zealand Trip!
Negative experience: The lady who served us this morning was absolutely useless, simply said I don't know to a question about road conditions. Yesterday when we asked her about walks she simply pointed to a map and the paid information. Even asked more questions about certain walks and she had no idea. Never had such a bad experience at an isite before.
Hello Samara, Sorry for your bad experience. Unfortunately we are not aware of all the road conditions in New Zealand. For Flea Bay we can clearly say that it is a gravel road with steep and narrow parts and therefore we recommend 4WD only. We do have lots of walks in and around Akaroa. So we point you to our overview map first so you can see the possibilities. There are also walking maps to help to find the way. For further questions we are always happy to assist. though.
Positive experience: good information. good staff. friendly service
Fantastic experience: Really friendly, helpful and competend stuff. Thanks!
Fantastic experience: Very friendly and competent staff. Got great advices and all bookings worked like a charm! Thanks a lot!
Fantastic experience: Very friendly staff and decent souvenirs if you're so inclined.
Positive experience: Helpful staff - thanks team!
Fantastic experience: Very good information.
Thank you very much!
Fantastic experience: I had some really helpful people at this Isite!
Positive experience: Nice and helpful with bank's peninsula
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