New Zealand

The Bay of Islands is 144 islands packed into a coastal pocket on New Zealand's North Island. It was where the country was effectively founded: the Treaty of Waitangi was signed there in 1840, between the British Crown and around 540 Māori chiefs, and the small town of Russell was briefly New Zealand's first capital. Today, the bay is the country's most popular yacht charter ground, with sheltered water, short crossings, and the easy informal pace that defines the region.

A New Zealand charter usually combines the Bay of Islands with the Hauraki Gulf around Auckland, two and a half hours of motorway down the road, where Waiheke Island is the wine-and-restaurant island and Great Barrier Island is the wilderness one. South of those, the Marlborough Sounds at the top of the South Island offer drowned-river anchorages and the country's main wine region around Blenheim. The fjords of the deep south, Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound, are technically possible by yacht but require a captain with the right insurance and weather windows; most New Zealand charters keep north of Wellington.

The season runs the southern summer, November to April. Most charters pick up in Opua at the Bay of Islands or in Auckland at the Westhaven Marina, often cited as the largest marina in the southern hemisphere. New Zealand is a long-haul flight from Europe and most of Asia, which is why a charter here usually pairs with Sydney or Fiji as a wider Pacific trip rather than as a stand-alone week.