Ferry passengers from Auckland to Waiheke face long delays

Hundreds of passengers catching the ferry to Waiheke have faced a long wait today.

Just after lunchtime, a long line of people could be seen weaving in and out of the ferry terminal in downtown Auckland.

The queue snaked down towards Auckland's Queen St at one point.

The exact reason for the delays are not yet known.

One disgruntled passenger said the queues waiting for the Waiheke ferry were back to Queen St at one point this morning.

She had a booking for the 11am ferry - but was shunted to the midday sailing instead.

"They've obviously oversold for each sailing, which is just insane.

"The 11am passengers have been bumped to the 12pm sailing and now those passengers will have to wait for the next one," the woman said.

Ferry passengers wait to board a ferry to Waiheke this afternoon. Photo / Dean Purcell

The delays were not the only problem, the woman said.

"To add insult to injury, they've sold out of bubbles on the midday sailing.

"This is the Christmas party season - how hard is it to get this right?"

Another passenger, Candice Bartlett, told the Herald they had not been told the reason behind the delay - only that they should expect a delay of about 20 minutes.

She was among a small group of people heading to Waiheke for a work Christmas function.

They had arrived just before midday hoping to catch the 12pm trip over.

"But we had to wait a very, very long line," she said.

"The ferry line was out the terminal by the time we arrived. Our friends who were here earlier said it had reached Queen St."

She said the 20-minute delay they were told to expect turned into a delay of about 45 minutes. They managed to board at 12.45pm.

She said those returning from Waiheke included a large group of people dressed up in "various" outfits - including a group of fairies or angels.

"A lot of people [going to Waiheke] had their bags too. It's just Christmas time."

A Fullers spokeswoman said the current timing was a "busy summer season on the water" and multiple group bookings and increased visitation was occuring to Waiheke Island today.

"We have seen a steady increase in patronage over the last few weeks and it's been great to see people get out on the water to celebrate the start of summer and the festive season. This signals the start of what we are anticipating will be a busy summer with Aucklanders and domestic visitors supporting local tourism and getting out and about on the Hauraki Gulf.

"The demand on our services today is a result of increased passenger numbers and multiple large group bookings heading to Waiheke for end of year celebrations. We have planned for the demand and put on additional services throughout the morning to move the large volumes of travellers. We understand delays can be frustrating and all capacity available has been deployed to ensure we get passengers where they need to be.

"With expected higher levels of passengers as we move into the festive season, we are endeavouring to provide our maximum fleet capacity on the popular Waiheke destination. We recommend all customers travelling with us over the summer period plan ahead and allow extra time for their journey."