Tauranga is one of New Zealand's busiest cruise destinations, with ships berthing at Mount Maunganui beside picturesque Pilot Bay.
Port of Tauranga's cruise information identifies Cruise Berth 1 and Cruise Berth 2 and provides procedures for days when two cruise vessels arrive together. These are operational positions within the port's continuous Mount Maunganui wharf system rather than two isolated purpose-built cruise piers.
The Mount Maunganui facility has approximately 2,055m of continuous berth face. Its underlying numbered berths handle general cargo, containers, logs and bulk commodities, so Deck7 does not convert all eleven commercial berth sections into eleven BONUS BERTHS.
Port navigation is strongly influenced by tidal flow. The port publishes maximum harbour arrival/departure draughts of 13.2m at low water and 14.5m at high water, with individual vessels assigned tidal windows according to handling characteristics. These harbour figures are not treated as berth-specific cruise-ship draught limits.
The berth is close to Mount Maunganui's shops, cafes, beach and waterfront, while excursions connect passengers with Tauranga, Rotorua and the wider Bay of Plenty.