Rise to stunning new heights with a return trip on the Sky Waka Gondola!
Experience the beauty of one of Aotearoa's favorite regions on New Zealand's premier Sky Waka Gondola.
Starting at the base station, this stunning trip travels 1.8km up to a height of 2020m above sea level, giving you majestic views into the clouds, past waterfalls and ancient lava flows along the way.
On the 12 minute journey, you'll discover the Central Plateau in all its glory from your cabin, each spacious enough to hold a maximum of 10 people.
An absolute must do for international travelers and locals alike, offering a unique way to soak up the stunning beauty of Aotearoa.
The Sky Waka gondola is set to open everyday until April 27th, from 9 am - 4pm. This is subject to weather conditions on the day so please check the report on: www.whakapapa.com/report
Great day out, highly recommend. Cafe at the top is amazing, nice walks too!
The mountain in summer is spectacular and out of this world. Unique volcanic landscape. Great walks from the top. A very comfortable cafe with views everywhere. Great food and drink deals. A very smooth gondola ride.
Thank you for your review. We are glad you had a great trip!
We set out for Skyline Rotorua, unaware that our reservation was actually at Whakapapa, Mount Ruapehu. Unfortunately, we lost the money we spent on our original booking, as Skyline Rotorua refused to recognize our reservation for Skyline at Mount Ruapehu. This situation has forced us to pay again for the Gondola experience. Can we have arefund?
Kia ora, Firstly we are sorry to learn you booked the wrong gondola, it is understandable that Skyline Rotorua would not recognise your booking as we are completely different operators. It appears you have not yet requested a refund through Book Me for your booking with us - please go ahead and do that so you can receive the refund.
It was particularly windy the day we went up and the gondolas were shaking and moving like crazy. We waited at the top for the wind to die down and then attempted to decend. Half way down the the whole gondola stopped due to the wind and we were dangling in mid air for 30mins being shaken and buffetered around. The children were crying and scared and when I tried to ring the office to find out what was happening I had no answer. When it finally started we got to the bottom to be greeted by a grumpy operator who told us to get out of the gondola. Was abit of a last straw for us and my husband asked him what was the 30minute hold up about. He just shrugged and said oh it happens. They can’t control the weather, but an intercom system or cancelling the gondola that day might have been a better option. It was abit of a terrifying ordeal.
Kia Ora Elizabeth, We are sorry to hear you and your family did not have the best time while visiting us. March 9th was a particularly windy day and we have followed-up with our Operations and Maintenance teams. Although there is no records of the gondola being stopped for more than 10 minutes we fully empathize with how scary this could have been for you and your children and certainly would have preferred you to be welcomed back at the station with more warmth and understanding. Our teams conduct comprehensive safety checks to ensure the lifts can operate safely in the prevailing weather conditions each morning and while the gondola may have encountered stronger wind gusts during your ride, please be assured that it remained within its safe operating parameters. Additionally, in the event of significant delays or important updates, the Sky Waka cabins are equipped with an intercom system to communicate with guests. We regret that this was not utilised in your case and will review our communication protocols to improve the guest experience. We sincerely appreciate your feedback, please contact us directly at info@whakapapa.com<mailto:info@whakapapa.com> as we'd like to get some more information about this incident. Nga mihi nui,
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Jane from New Zealand wrote on 11 March 2025
Awesome!
LOVED the Sky Waka .. reccommend to our bnb guests now .. fab value and it blew us away!