TripAdvisor declared Rotorua Canopy Tour’s Ultimate Experience the 11th best experience in the world in 2021. That’s pretty high praise!
You need to allow yourself 3.5 hours to experience this activity which is surprisingly suitable for almost everyone.
After meeting at their base on the outskirts of Rotorua where you meet you guides who ooze professionalism and fun times, you’ll be transported up to a magical forest that appears to have been lost in time. You’ll immediately be struck with how you feel as you are transported to another world full of amazing trees, ferns, smells and noise.
Perhaps the most impressive feat by the team at Canopy Tours is over the past 10 years they have removed all the possums and rats from this once unloved and forgotten slice of New Zealand forest and restored it to a pest free environment – so much so that you can spot many bird species and in an amazing highlight of the experience, even handfeed wild robins.
The experience consists of 6 ziplines for a total of 1.2 kilometres. They vary from shooting you through tight gaps in the forest layer to giant swooping flights through deep forested valleys. There is even a 400 metre tandem line so you can race you partner… but this tour is so much more than an adrenaline rush.
In addition there are a number of suspended bridges that span wide valleys, floating staircases and one of the highlights – the 50 metre high cliff walk – that appears seemingly out of no where as you arrive perched high on it after a zipline flight out of the forest canopy.
It’s a truly special experience, suitable for anyone with a okay level of fitness. It operates in all weather but does suspend operations when high winds exist.
Why is this Chuffed Worthy?
Started in 2008 by two pioneering Kiwi mates who had a vision of delivering a mind blowing forest experience using a series of ziplines, swing bridges & elevated platforms, Rotorua Canopy Tours was recently ranked the #1 nature activity IN THE WORLD by Tripadvisor! Praise doesn’t get much higher than that. Not only is this a beautiful & thrilling forest experience, it is also environmentally responsible & educational. A portion of every ticket sold goes to the restoration of the native NZ forest that the tour runs in. You arrive as a stranger & leave as a part of the story of the impressive conservation efforts that have taken place here!
