The Rangitoto Island has a lot of charm and I would definitely recommend taking a ferry from Auckland and visiting it. It’s a perfect idea for a half-day trip. Rangitoto it’s a small, volcanic island with beautiful views from the summit and a little cave. 2-3 hours are enough to climb the highest peak, make a loop around the crater and visit the Lava caves. There is no shops, nor restaurants there, so it’s necessary to bring water and something to eat.

Absolutely beautiful hike which should not be considered easy, unless you regularly hike rocky hills. Give yourself plenty of time of time before the ferry back. As long as you give yourself plenty of time for breaks and climbing, plus do not have mobility issues, this is doable. There was no tram option where the ferry dropped us off. People could just hike around the lower portion, with no climbing to the lava caves or the volcano summit. Is still very pretty at the bottom. I stopped going up at the turn off for the lava caves; I’m not sure what I was expecting, but was interesting. You can climb through different caves. Some look kind of like regular caves, some are tight but open up enough to stand (don’t recommend if claustrophobic or having hard time fit in tight area), others can walk through and have interesting sides of the caves. I thought climbing to these would be easier than climbing to the summit. On the one hand, it was not as steep as I heard it became towards the summit, but the path was less well defined & much more rocky. The rest of my group finished going to the summit. They all made it, but did say it became much more difficult after I left them and much more steep. They did say it was beautiful at the top and looked like a lush rain forest. We should have booked a later ferry back and given us more time to hike and look around the island. Many reviews stated it was an easy hike . However, if you do not hike at baseline, especially in tough terrain, recommend you ignore that. Give yourself at least twice the time most state to summit, specially if you also want to see the lava caves. If you are the usual person; when I was coming down, even the athletic people going up looked beat, at about the half way mark. See pictures for easy part vs more difficult parts of hiking.

In Auckland our cruise ship was docked right in the heart of the city, and just a short walk away from the ferry terminal. We had pre-booked tickets for the 915am Rangitoto ferry, as it was a Saturday and it's a popular crossing. About 30 minutes to get to Rangitoto, and then it's 60 to 75 minutes trek to the top to see the crater. There's some benches at the top to sit and have your sandwiches, before heading down. We got the 230 ferry back to Auckland and we're there early, but I think trying to make the earlier ferry would have been very tight for time. Overall, it was an ok day out, and we were tired at the end of it so just went back to our ship without seeing much else in Auckland. If I had a day in Auckland again I would probably do something else and try to see a bit more of this city.

I highly recommend a day trip to Rangitoto Island from Auckland. It's a 30 ish minute ferry ride. You pretty much come here to hike, so keep that in mind. There are no stores or anything on the island so come prepared for the day and wear comfortable clothes. The hike to the summit was easy and scenic. I also di the coastal trail which was my favorite. It took about 2.5-3 hours to complete the summit and coastal trail. The landscape was unique, you pass lava fields and beautiful coast lines. Just remember when the ferry departs, you don't want to get stranded!

Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland. The 5.5 km wide island is a symmetrical shield volcano cone capped by central scoria cones, reaching a height of 260 m(850 ft).Emerging unexpectedly from the sea some 600 years ago, it is the youngest and largest volcano of the 48 Dormant volcanoes in the Auckland volcanic field.Rangitoto means 'Bloody sky' in Maori language and is thought to refer to the serious injury of a Maori chief during a battle on the island. Roads and tracks allow visitors to walk over lava fields and through lava caves (tubes left behind by the passage of liquid lava).It is densely forested with tree's and on arrival at the jetty realized that this island was excellent for trekking to the peak through forested pathways.It has the largest forest of Pohutukawa trees in the World, a indigenous tree of New Zealand. Rangitoto is approximately a 30 minutes ferry journey from Auckland Port with the ferry having a stop-over at Devonport .