FAQ
Q How many people would we be able to book for?
A For a party, corporate event or sightseeing cruise within the Tauranga Harbour Area, we can accommodate up to 18 Adults.
If you want to leave the harbour and get out onto the Bay of Plenty to do some fishing and/or sightseeing, we can accommodate up to 12 adults offshore. For extended sightseeing charters, dive charters or fishing charters, sleeping accomodation limits the number of adult passengers to 6 (2 double, 2 single in 3 cabins).
Q What happens if the weather is bad?
A Because the weather can be a factor and because we don't want our customers to suffer as a result; if the charter cannot proceed and we have to cancel for safety or technical reasons, we will offer you a mutually agreeable alternative date or a full refund at your discretion.
Q Do you do overnight charters?
A Yes we do extended charters where we can stay away for up to 4 or 5 nights. We also do 24 hour charters offering the client a bigger choice of destinations and more importantly, being at the right location at the best times of the morning and evening. With overnight charters, our accommodation limits the number of guests to 6.
Extended fishing charters allow us to reach a greater variety of locations and target a wider range of species including snapper, trevally, kingfish and terakihi and in deeper water we could target Hapuka, Blue Nose, Tuna, Shark, Marlin and at night Broadbill Swordfish and Shark (depending on the season and the weather).
Q Can you please let me know the price for my team to go out on your boat for a half-day fun fishing trip from Tauranga?
A Transparency is an important factor in our business and all of our prices together with our terms and conditions are published on our website. See Prices for details.
Q When bottom fishing what would you target and what fishing grounds can you cover?
A Our base in Tauranga allows us to fish the rich waters around the islands of the western Bay of Plenty including Mayor, Motiti, Plate, the Bay of Plenty's many reefs such as Astrolabe*, Penguin Shoals, Pudney Rock and Okaparu Reef to name a few; as well as the deep canyons and sea mounts East of Mayor Island. However, since our charters are "private" the customer is "king", we would do our best to accommodate any reasonable wishes you have with regard to target species, fishing methods and technique as well as fishing locations. We are set up to troll for game fish, and have equipment for jigging, soft baiting, drift baiting and traditional bottom fishing.
* Astrolabe Reef is currently inside an exclusion zone due to ongoing salvage operations.
Q What fishing equipment does Sunfish 1 carry?
A We have around 20 shimano and Penn rods and reels on board, including two Penn International 80VSW 2 speed game reels on Kilwell live-fibre bent butt rods and two Penn International 70VS 2 speed game reels on Kilwell live-fibre stand-up rods. These big reels are spooled with approximately 300m of 80lb mono over 700m of 80lb Dacron. The smaller reels are spooled with approximately 250m of 80lb mono over approx. 600m of 80 lb Dacron. We troll these 4 lines from our double spreader outriggers as well as 3 other rods with either tuna or skippy lures. We often run an exciter quite far back from a rod on the centre of the flybridge to add to the array of attractions.
We have 2 tuna tubes and carry a tag pole as well as a flying gaff so you can either film, photograph and tag the fish before releasing it or we can bring it on board.
Call Mike now on: freephone 0800 SUNFISH or ++64(0)7 543 2104 or ++64 (0)21 047 6758(mobile) or email us by filling out our contact form.