Huka Prawn Park was never supposed to be on our itinerary during our North Island of New Zealand odyssey, however, the kids somehow learned about it and promptly added it to their bucket list. Despite my reservations, it ended up leading to one of our favourite days of the trip.
The brochures looked good, but Trip Advisor reviews were lacking in any encouragement to give it a go. I was afraid that it might not live up to the hype that the kids had created as we headed to its gates upon departing Rotorua.
On arrival, we paid for admission, grabbed some bait and asked where we should go to catch some prawns. I was worried that we might end up at a pool with no prawns. We headed to the recommended pool and set ourselves up.
Huka Prawn Park with Kids
Table of Contents
Top Tips for Catching Prawns
Don’t Give Up
I must admit that we didn’t actually catch anything for the first 20-30 minutes. There were a few nibbles, a glimpse or two of something in the water, but nothing on the end of our line. We changed the bait. We sat and waited, perhaps not as patiently as more seasoned anglers. I was contemplating throwing it all in when Striker pulled a prawn in, and then another, and another. Three big prawns in the space of a minute renewed all interest in the fishing idea!
Ask the team where to fish
Not all pools are made equally. The team stock the pools at different times of the week so it’s best to ask which pool, and even which spot, you should start at to hopefully catch a prawn.
We noticed that the spots we were told about appeared to yield a little more prawns than those around us. Of course, we didn’t want to give up our spot, but others caught on to our apparent luck and positioned themselves nearby.
Patience and technique
Patience isn’t just about waiting to catch a prawn, but also patience to let the snag on before you reel them in. We had many bites of our lines before we learned how to make sure they were hooked before we brought them to the surface. You’ll need to be patient working out the technique, but once you do you’ll find yourself pulling them in more frequently.
Make sure you plan to eat them – or throw them back in
The Huka Prawn Farm know that eating prawns is serious business and if you’re going to catch a prawn or two you are probably going to eat them too so they have created a cooking shed for visitors to use. A word of warning, you need a whole lot of prawns to make it really worth your while and you probably want them to be a good size, otherwise throwing them back in is going to work better.
On our visit, we caught over half a bucket full, but it took a good few hours. We purchased some hot chips on site and ate them for lunch. If you know seafood, you know that eating them fresh is key and you really can’t get them any fresher than straight from the water, right?
Prawns aside, what else can we do?
If you don’t want to catch the prawns or if you’ve already eaten your fill and wondering what else to do, Huka Prawn Farm has a suite of other activities to sink your teeth into.
For those wondering how prawns are farmed, you can take a behind the scenes guided tour through the nursery and hatchery. Then, of course, there’s a whole bunch more for the kids including stand-up paddleboards, water trikes, and pedal boats which you can use on the new boating lake.
Want more? How about feeding the trout, battling your family on the water cannons, tackling the water gauntlets or playing at the kids’ playground and footbaths?
Visiting Huka Prawn Farm
Opening times
Monday to Friday 9.00am – 3.00pm | Saturday and Sunday 9.00am – 4.00pm
Admission Prices
Family: $75.00 (includes 2 adults & up to 5 children 15yrs and under)
While you can book your visit at the door, Klook have a Huka Prawn Park deal on that might save you a dollar or two. (note: this is an affiliate link)
How to get there
Huka Prawn Farm is easily accessible by car and is open throughout the week. The farm can be found at Karetoto Road, Wairakei Tourist Park, Lake Taupo New Zealand. We found it easily on departure from Rotorua.
We self-funded our trip to Huka Prawn Park. All views are our own, although the kids would probably give it even higher applause than I have – they were totally enamored.
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Our family of four spent two weeks exploring the North Island of New Zealand. We are slowly providing coverage of our experiences to help you plan your trip to this amazing country.
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