Since October 2023 the ten-minute ferry between Bayswater Marina and Downtown Auckland has been run by Explore Group, a tourism company that stepped in when the previous operator gave notice it would stop. On weekdays it sails direct, 22 times a day out of Bayswater; at weekends Bayswater is the first call on a loop that carries on to Northcote Point and Birkenhead. Auckland Transport has already signed the next operator: Belaire Ferries with Kelsian's SeaLink, from 1 July 2027.
Auckland Transport timetable and schedule data from 12 October 2026 to 7 February 2027, weekday route BAYS and weekend loops listed under the Birkenhead route; checked 26 October 2026 Auckland Transport – Bayswater ferry timetable · 2026-10-26
Bayswater is one of Auckland Transport's inner-harbour ferry routes: a direct crossing from the marina on the North Shore to Pier 1 at the Downtown Ferry Terminal, timed at ten minutes each way. Explore Group has run it for AT since 1 October 2023, together with the Birkenhead and Te Onewa Northcote Point boats.
The timetable is built around office hours. From Bayswater the first boat leaves at 06:40 and they come every half hour until 09:10; then it is hourly at 25 past, half-hourly again from 16:25 to 19:25, and hourly to the last at 22:25. From the city the first is at 06:55 and the last at 22:10.
Explore took the route over at short notice in 2023, bringing a near-new vessel from its Australian business and borrowing Discovery IV from its Bay of Islands fleet in the meantime. Its contract ends when the new operators start in mid-2027.
Bayswater is priced as an inner-harbour trip, the same band as Devonport and Birkenhead, and each fare covers a single journey to or from the city. Paying cash costs noticeably more: an adult pays $12 in cash against $7.80 by AT HOP or contactless. Fare caps apply too, at $20 a day for contactless and $50 over seven days for AT HOP.
Children under five ride free with a paying passenger. SuperGold cardholders with the concession loaded on AT HOP travel free after 9am on weekdays and pay the adult fare before that. Registered child cards for ages 5 to 15 ride free on the weekend loop boats.
| Adult (contactless or AT HOP) | $ 7.80 |
| Child 5–15, secondary or tertiary student (AT HOP) | $ 4.69 |
| Accessible fare (AT HOP) | $ 4.69 |
| Community Connect (AT HOP) | $ 3.90 |
| Adult, tertiary student or Community Connect | $ 12 |
| Child 5–15, secondary student or accessible fare | $ 7 |
| Inner Harbour monthly pass (registered AT HOP) | $ 195 |
| Seven-day cap, AT HOP | $ 50 |
| Daily cap, contactless | $ 20 |
Auckland Transport inner-harbour ferry fares in force since 1 February 2026, read 2 October 2026 Auckland Transport – ferry fares · 2026-10-02
On weekdays the route is a direct run from Pier 1 in the city across the Waitematā Harbour to the marina at Bayswater, on the North Shore side. At weekends Bayswater becomes the first stop of a loop operated as the Birkenhead and Northcote Point ferry. On a handful of dates the Belaire boat to Rākino also starts or finishes at Bayswater; the Rākino Island ferry timetable lists those sailings.
Bayswater boats use Pier 1 at the Downtown Ferry Terminal, shown as stop 96001 in AT's timetable and on the live departure boards. Pay with an AT HOP card or a contactless bank card; cash is taken too, but at a much higher fare.
The terminal sits inside Bayswater Marina, reached from Sir Peter Blake Parade off Bayswater Avenue. AT counts 120 park-and-ride spaces here, free on weekdays as long as you validate your parking ticket before driving out. The separate marina car park now runs on the Inugo app instead of tickets, and the free weekday session is validated at the Downtown Ferry Terminal. Bus 801 links the wharf with Takapuna and Akoranga Station.
On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays the only Bayswater boats are the Birkenhead loops: ten minutes out from the city, but 35 minutes back because the boat calls at Northcote Point and Birkenhead first.
An adult pays $7.80 with AT HOP or a contactless card and $12 in cash, and the daily and weekly fare caps only count card journeys.
Weekday parking at the terminal is free only if you validate your ticket before driving out. In the marina car park, validate your Inugo session at the Downtown Ferry Terminal.
Seniors with the SuperGold concession on AT HOP travel free after 9am; on the early boats they pay the adult fare.
AT's timetable does not show live changes. Use AT's ferry status page or the AT Mobile app on the day.
Why does Bayswater look like a weekday-only route? Because AT files its weekend boats under another line. The Bayswater timetable itself has nothing on Saturdays or Sundays, but the Birkenhead route's weekend loops call here five times on a Sunday and six on a Saturday, from 09:10 to 20:20 or 22:20, and so does a late Friday loop at 23:20. AT's 2024 printed timetable showed the same arrangement. Explore also runs the Tiritiri Matangi island ferry, but from Viaduct Harbour, not from Bayswater.
What changes in 2027? AT's Western Package contract, announced on 2 July 2026, gives Bayswater, Birkenhead and Te Onewa, West Harbour and Rākino to Belaire Ferries and Kelsian Group's SeaLink for seven years from 1 July 2027. Five new 24-metre ferries are to arrive progressively from 2028.
Yes, but not a direct one. The weekend Birkenhead loops call at Bayswater at 09:10, 11:10, 14:20, 17:55 and 20:20, plus 22:20 on Saturdays, and reach Pier 1 35 minutes later.
From Bayswater, 06:40 and 22:25. From Pier 1 in the city, 06:55 and 22:10.
An adult pays $7.80 on AT HOP or a contactless card, $12 in cash; for children aged 5 to 15 it is $4.69 on AT HOP and $7 in cash.
Ten minutes in either direction, with no stops on the way.
Explore Group, under contract to Auckland Transport. From 1 July 2027 Belaire Ferries and Kelsian's SeaLink take over.
Yes. AT has 120 park-and-ride spaces at the terminal, free on weekdays if you validate your ticket before leaving.
Yes. On Christmas Day and the Mondayised Boxing Day only the weekend-style loops sail; on the other working days the direct boats keep going, and AT's current data runs to early February.
Yes: the Inner Harbour pass costs $195 a month on a registered AT HOP card and is also valid on buses and trains within the zones at each end of your crossing.