New Zealand National Maritime Museum

Some great maritime exhibits and hands-​on activities on offer. The museum is not on par with Te Papa and the likes. It is definitely in need of a bit of an upgrade BUT there’s still plenty to see and do! My jaw dropped at the sight of Sir Peter Blake’s America’s Cup winning yacht, Black Magic (NZL 32) — how an earth did they manage to suspend this ginormous vessel from the ceiling?!
The Black Magic wasn’t the only vessel that had me awe-​struck, the 76 foot baurua voyaging canoe from the Kiribati Atolls was breath-​taking! Taratai was put together using hand-​woven coconut fiber ropes. According to one of the staff, the canoe is held together by approximately 8 km of rope.
That’s not all, the Maritime Museum is the only museum in the world that has a working fleet of three heritage vessels. They are moored along the side of the museum. I’d love to go sailing on the Waitemata Harbour in each of them!
The SS Puke is the tiny little steam tug that sails on selected Saturday afternoons. Auckland residents get concession rates — $ 15 per adult.
Breeze is a replica 19^th Century traditional wooden sailing ship. She set sail in 1985 to Mururoa to replace the Rainbow Warrior in protest against French nuclear testing — shiver my timbers! The old girl’s quite the beauty but alas, not up for sailing at present :(
The ketch-​rigged deck scow is however in shipshape and Bristol fashion. A one hour sailing trip on board the Ted Ashby will cost an Auckland resident $ 25 per adult, $ 20 per senior/​student, $ 12 per child. She sets sail 6 days a week.
Anchors aweigh!

I have walked past here many times but never really realized quite how large the museum itself is, and how fairly priced it is. So, looking for something new to do on a rainy Auckland weekend, I stopped by and am very glad that I did.
The museum is filled with maritime-​related artifacts, and many boats themselves, from very recent and very long ago. They have boat tours as well, and you can go out on the water for an hour or so for not much money… which I did, and was very glad to have done so. If you have done a harbour tour before, trust me, it’s still worth it. And if you haven’t, this is probably the cheapest harbour tour you can get.
I spent 3 – 4 hours here, including the boat ride, and was never bored.

This museum offers a fantastic view of both the Maori and European histories and heritage as they relate to the New Zealand islands.
The museum is designed to step you through the ‘ages’ — first, a history of how the Maori arrived in New Zealand, some of their folklore of how New Zealand was formed, and examples of the boats they used. For me personally I found this section to be the most fascinating, particularly the history of the migration of peoples through from China, through south east Asia and the Micronesia and Polynesian island chains
The museum then takes you on a tour of the arrival of the europeans; notable figures from the early days, and then a look at how immigrants travelled to New Zealand.
There’s a great section on the Americas Cup, and the yachts that were used in the New Zealand win of the cup in the 90’s.
There, so much to do here — they say to allow for 90 mins, but if you really want to spend time reading through all the exhibits best allow for 2 hrs. I highly recommend taking advantage of the opportunity to get out on one of the sail boats. These are crewed by volunteers, so feel free to give a helping hand and pull on the rigging! Best to check ahead to confirm what time/​s the sail boats leave, and plan to get there a little a little early.

So enjoyed visiting here, lots to see and displays to read. The time just went by so quick quick about NZ’s maritime history and how it was integral to early NZ and is still a major part even now. It was a great hands on experience, one that I intend to return too again.
For my the highlight was taking the chance and going out on the Ted Ashby as part of the museum tour.

Ok I might be slightly biased with this one as a sailor and I have a real love of the sea but this is one of the best Maritime Museums I have ever visited anywhere in the world.
Firstly you can’t miss the Yacht outside the building guiding you right up to the quayside and encouraging you into the building, once inside you get to see some amazing interactive displays. History of vessels from Mauri to modern. The ability to view some of their vessels in the water and getting the opportunity to sail on some too.
The staff are all excellent very open and knowledgeable. The hands on exhibits bring the whole experience to life and will keep children and adults entertained for hours.
If you are an auckland resident it is a must visit location due to it being free entry as a tourist visit to experience one of the best maritime museums in the world and learn about an industry that is key to New Zealand.
Of course my highlight was getting out on one of the boats and sailing in the bay. This alone gives these guys an edge over many other maritime museums. It is worth paying the little bit more to take that opportunity if the time allows.

I first came here as a kid as a special trip with our teacher, only four of us got to go, and it was my first time coming into the city that I can actually remember. I thought it was amazing. The boats looked so big and learning about all the history that sailing has was really cool.
These days I still think it’s quite an awesome place. It’s a different place to go than the museum or the zoo or Motat, probably because it’s not as popular or as common a place. I also like that it’s a specific kind of museum. It’s all about boats and the sea and sailing and sailors. I think it is definitely something Auckland needs to keep around because it really gives The City of Sails something special.

I found my way back down here for the first time in years recently. Every now and then I like to go around Auckland as though I was a tourist, and exploring all the goods that our fair city had to offer. I stood outside, and thought «would any tourist really want to go to a maritime museum?» The answer seemed obvious enough, but I had to go deeper.
Walking in kindled childhood memories of coming here with my Grandparents and throwing up in the rocking room that is supposed to recreate life on an 1870’s ship to New Zealand. Nowadays it lacks a certain level of realism, but the mannequins of passengers are still uncanny enough.
There are heaps of boat related items here, it is a maritime museum after all. I guess if I was a tourist that was stuck in the downtown area, I wouldn’t be too sad about coming here as there is definitely enough to while away a few hours.

I have always loved coming to the Maritime Museum ever since I was a little kid. There’s something magical about walking around and taking in all the information about our wonderful sailing history. My dad’s a keen sailer so every time we went to town we had to pop in.
I remember stepping on to the big old boat outside and being overwhelmed by how big it was. You can even go out on this boat from anywhere between 15 minutes to z few hours. Such a good way to see the harbour!
They have different exhibitions on so every time you go there’s something new to look at, read, and take in. If you’ve got a visitor from overseas this is a must see tourist spot that really sums up the City of Sails.

The Maritime Museum is located right in the heart of the Auckland Viaduct, and is a record of New Zealand maritime achievements. It includes a fabulous tribute to the late Sir Peter Blake and everything he did for yachting within New Zealand.
There are interesting interactive displays that depict important developments and events within New Zealand maritime history. One of these include a room set up as the interior of an old sailing boat, complete with cabin and bunk beds, that rocks and creaks as though you really are aboard a ship. Beware — if you get motion sick, it’s probably best top avoid this room!
The Museum also has rooms that can be hired for private functions, and also caters to youngsters by hosting school holiday programmes. It is also possible to partake in boat trips from the Museum.
Bonus: There is a great bar and restaurant at the entrance to the Maritime Museum. I personally find this the best part of the Museum, but any sea-​savvy person is sure to enjoy the Maritime experience.

Being really interested in Maritime history, this was a really good find for me and surprisingly it is not that well known in Auckland itself. Many of my local friends never knew that this gem has been tucked away down at the Viaduct for years.
The awesome thing is that if you are a Auckland resident you get in for free, otherwise its $ 17 for Adult entry, $ 8.50 for a child, or $ 34 for a family pass.
The exhibitions here are really interesting, from the early story of New Zealand Maritime exploration, through to ‘Blue Water Black Magic’ — A Tribute to Sir Peter Blake, which even includes the actual 1995 America’s Cup-​winning boat NZL32 — Black Magic.
My favourite by far though is definately the ‘New Beginnings’ exhibition which chronicles stories of immigrants coming to live in New Zealand from the 1850s through to the 1960s, which includes an accurate reproduction of an 1840s steerage cabin that actually rocks to simulate life on the sea, so dont forget to bring your motion sickness tablets if ye dont have your sea legs me hearties!
If you want to make your day out at the museum even more interactive for $ 29 for adult visitors, $ 14.50 for child and a family pass for $ 58.00 you can even jump aboard the Voyager Museums heritage scow and go for an hour round sail around the harbour!