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The "Shuckleferry" in the Farm

Fresh wild oysters

NZ Oyster Farm Tours

2 Ridge Road , Snells Beach , New Zealand .

Join us on our Oyster Farm Tour. Cruise, Learn and eat the naturally grown Oysters. Departing Scotts Landing an hour north of Auckland, nestled in the stunning Matakana Coast region.

Pricing and Conditions

Departing Scotts Landing, nestled in the Mahurangi Harbour, we cruise to the Historic G Brownes Bay. Not only rich in history, the bay holds Oyster farms growing the popular Pacific Oyster species. We take you to the centre of the farm, where we teach the way these salty bivalves are caught, grown and ultimately eaten. Collecting fresh oysters straight from the water, the skipper will teach you the easy way to open your stash, then it's time for you to have a go yourself. Once finished eating and with the tide flowing back in covering over the farm, we head back to Scotts Landing. Tour takes approximately 1.5 hours.

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shuck & savour ~ a great day out up north ~

Hands-on Experience

You want to eat ‘em? You’ve got to shuck ‘em first! We let you get up close and personal with our oysters.

Fresh Oyster Tasting

Shuck ‘em, then eat ‘em. There’s nothing like our oysters. Fresh or BBQ’d - we’ve turned sceptics into fans.

Incredible Scenery

Scotts Landing is our own slice of heaven. Enjoy the stunning views of the clear blue Kiwi water all year round.

ready for an oyster adventure?

book your tour now or contact us for a customised experience!

meet your guides

We love sharing our oyster knowledge with our guests almost as much as we love eating fresh oysters.

Fresh oysters are like nothing you’ve ever tasted before. If you think you know oysters - you’ve not tried ours. People who hate oysters try ours and wonder why they’ve wasted all those years.

Saltwater Workshop has been farming oysters on the Mahurangi Harbour since 1991, and we’ve been running oyster farm tours on the Shuckleferry since 2013.

These are the freshest oysters you’ll find North of Auckland, and they're an experience that is totally Kiwi in our best irregular way.

~ Lisa & Nod

where are We?

We’re an easy one-hour drive north of Auckland at Scott’s Landing, Ridge Road, Mahurangi East - GET DIRECTIONS

do you offer Transport - pick ups and drop-offs?

We focus on our Oyster Tours, however we highly recommend our local friends at Mai Ride for a luxurious, professional and fun taxi-service.

What other experiences are nearby?

You can combine your tour with a visit to Warkworth, Matakana market, the local vineyards and sculpture trail, or any of the stunning beaches along the peninsula. Read A Day Tripper's Guide to the Mahurangi Peninsula here

what about tour Accessibility?

We welcome all, but please note the limitations of wheelchair access. Our guests need to be able to walk from the pontoon onto the boat. We can assist wheelchairs onto the pontoon.

what if I don't eat oysters?

No problem! We understand that not everyone loves oysters so we can cater for all dietary needs. If you give us enough notice, we can whip you up a special treat to cater for your requirements.  Just let us know when you make your booking. If you have a serious shellfish allergy, we suggest this tour is not for you, as our guests will be handling and eating oysters. We look forward to seeing you soon. 

Scotts Landing, Ridge Road, Mahurangi East, New Zealand

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NZ Oyster Farm Tours

Board “The Shuckleferry” for a unique foodie experience. See how the popular Pacific Oyster is caught, grown and nutured before harvesting fresh from the farm, A shucking lesson followed by dozens of natural and BBQ oysters will make for an unforgettable dayout.

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Home / Destinations / Auckland / Catching oysters on-board Shuckle Ferry Tours

Catching oysters on-board Shuckle Ferry Tours

• Words: Jill Malcolm
• Photography: Jill Malcolm
• Published: June 21, 2019

I understand that the world has always been my oyster. What I had no knowledge of was an oyster’s world. That was until I took my place on New Zealand’s only oyster farm tour last week.

The Shuckle Ferry, a small flat bottom craft, sans trimmings, leaves Scotts Landing on the Mahurangi Peninsula daily and slides quietly across shallow water to the spread of oyster farms in Brownes Bay near the western bank of the river.

Exactly where it ends up depends on the tide. The farming of Pacific oysters in New Zealand first began in Brownes Bay, and its sheltered reaches are covered with mollusc-bearing racks that look like the skeletal remains of sea monsters.

The oysters, however, are very much alive, clinging to the wooden batons and growing fatter by the week. They are not the prettiest of bivalves, but to a shellfish gourmand like myself, the presence of thousands (maybe millions) of those distorted, slate-coloured shells was a wonderful sight.

Skipper and Shuckle Ferry owner is Phil Morris. He’s no stranger to the waterways around here. He worked on the Kawau ferries before spending 12 years working on super yachts around the world.

He is now more of a landlubber, but his occupations are still linked to the sea. Phil first set up summer tours down the Matakana River, then bought an oyster farm at Mahurangi, and last year, the ferry and tour operation. The amount of interest the little shellfish generates surprises him.

“I think it’s getting out on the water, harvesting your own food and eating it on the spot,” he said. “We don’t get to do this much in the modern world.” Phil is one of those confident, straight-talking types, and his enthusiasm as he told us about the up and downs of aquaculture was catching.

“New Zealand pacific oysters are immigrants,” he said. “They arrived here in the 1960s as stow-aways on the hulls of foreign ships. Farming started in the 1970s. Today the techniques are much the same and the methods are still surprisingly simple.”

He picked up a small timber stick. “The process starts when spat settle on these. Then the sticks are nailed onto racks that sit just above water level at low tide.”Like all babies, their next task is to eat and grow.

Their larder is the nutrient-rich water and they take about 12-20 months to reach market size. Phil jumped into the tide in his wetsuit and began filling our own larder. My mouth started to water before he’d even got the booty on board. 

But before we got to taste a morsel, we had to learn to shuck, holding the sharp knobby shells in tea towels so we didn’t shuck one of our own digits instead. It wasn’t as easy as it looked, but I’m an oyster addict and desperate to get at the prize.

The next half hour or so was almost an out-of-world experience – savouring the tender flesh of crassostrea gigas, as many as I could shuck and eat. Each melted on my tongue with the strong, faintly metallic taste of the sea and I washed it down with a crisp, chilled white wine.

Phil also barbecues them on board with garlic and lemon. Those poor benighted souls who shudder at the thought will possibly be gagging by now, but it was the first time in my life that I had to say ‘that’s enough’ to an oyster feast. Below the water’s surface, shadowy figures lurked.

They were stingray come for the buffet along with the herons and cormorants which pick at the crumbs. I didn’t see an oystercatcher, but Phil assured me they weren’t far away. Being out on the water of that lovely harbour is a great experience for anyone. For an oyster lover it’s seventh heaven.

Note: It is essential to book 24 hours in advance. To make a booking, visit oysterfarmtours.co.nz

Win a two-hour oyster tour for two people with Shuckle Ferry Tour (Valued at $190)

Be in to win a two-hour oyster tour for two people with Shuckle Ferry Tours, valued at $190!

Enter here  before 28 June, 2019.

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NZ Oyster Farm Tours

Scott's Landing, Mahurangi East

Attractions & Activities Tours Mahurangi East, Snells Beach, Algies Bay and Scotts Landing adventure conference couples Culture Family Feast Food fun History Live Show

Experience NZ’s only oyster farm tour in the beautiful Mahurangi Harbour. Depart Scott’s Landing for an unforgettable fresh seafood experience.

90 minute full oyster shucking experience

Departing Scotts Landing, nestled in the Mahurangi Harbour we cruise to the Historic G Browns Bay. Rich in history, as the oyster farming area in NZ, the bay still thrives with oyster farms growing the popular Pacific Oyster species. The oyster farms are tidal so depending on the tide, we take you to best location on the day, where we teach the way these salty bivalves are caught, grown and ultimately eaten!

Collecting fresh oysters straight from the water, it’s your turn to ‘shuck’. The skipper will teach you how to open, while BBQ oysters with garlic butter are also prepared.

Photo Gallery

We deliver fresh, fresh Mahurangi Oysters from the Pacific to your plate.

Shuck, slurp, sip: ahh … the bliss factor..

The oyster of choice in the Auckland restaurant scene and prized by the oyster obsessed throughout New Zealand Aotearoa, Mahurangi Oysters are deliciously sweet, plump and delicate with a uniquely fresh flavour.

Oyster Shucking Knife

Shuck that’s Good T Shirt

Fresh Mahurangi Oysters

Dexter Russell 126 Shucking Knife

From our family to yours.

Get your hands on the most delicious fresh oysters as well as what works with them to take your oyster experience to the next level.

“Shuck, that’s good”.

Each oyster carries its provenance like a fingerprint and the Mahurangi river produces some of the best-tasting oysters on the planet. Mahurangi Oysters are grown and carefully tended in a beautiful, unspoilt corner of the Mahurangi Harbour by the Aitken Family. These hand-selected live oysters are a taste sensation.  

But oyster lovers be warned.  

Slurping down these Mahurangi delicacies, freshly shucked and eaten straight from the shell with that vital hit of liquor, will raise your shellfish expectations forever. Never again will you be able to settle for anything but the freshest, juiciest, sweetest, plumpest of oysters.

Fresh whole-shell oysters delivered to your door.

Enjoy the freshest possible Pacific oysters grown in the Mahurangi Harbour, packed live and whole. To get them to you at their tastiest, Jim and the team are often out on the water at 5.00 am harvesting to order. We then process and deliver them overnight to your door secure in Mother Nature’s own brilliant packaging. All our oysters are shipped whole-shell, with a seven-day-chilled shelf life.

“As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.” Ernest Hemingway

Get in touch.

Got questions? Ask us anything about our succulent Mahurangi Oysters. We provide fresh to restaurants nationwide, do home deliveries and if you’d like to talk to us about a local pick-up or supply, we’re just a few clicks away.

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WAIHEKE ISLAND'S

TE MATUKU OYSTERS 

Tasty & Sustainable

Te Matuku Oyster farm lies in nutrient rich, unpolluted Te Matuku Marine Reserve at the south east corner of Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf. 

We use  state-of-the art oyster farming technology with suspended SEAPA baskets replacing traditional timber rack and rail structures. This new method significantly improves tidal flows and minimises detritus on the seabed, dramatically reducing  environmental impacts of the farm.

Who's talking about us

When you grow oysters this good it's hard to stay out of the press. Have a read of the great things we've been up to and people just generally saying nice things about us

RESTAURANTS

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Ask us anything

We provide quality products to restaurants nationwide, contact us if you would like to feature our oysters on your menu.