Queenstown Jet Boat Prices

The short answer

The operators’ own adult fares for 2026–27 run from NZ$119 for Thunder Jet’s 30-minute ride and NZ$159 for an hour on KJet, through NZ$199 for the 25-minute Shotover Jet and NZ$229 for Skippers Canyon Jet, to NZ$399 for the 2-hour Dart River Wilderness Jet in summer. Thunder Jet also sells a 45-minute Rise & Ride from Frankton Marina for NZ$99, on its own website only.

On the booking sites, the lowest-priced ride on this site is the same Thunder Jet 30-minute ride from Steamer Wharf: from $56 per person on GetYourGuide and from $63 on Viator. Among the hour-long rides, the lowest is KJet, from $84 per person on GetYourGuide.

Operator fares are in New Zealand dollars, checked on 28 October 2026. Booking-site figures are “from” prices per person in US dollars as of September 2026, the lowest price each listing showed; the price for your date, time and option can be higher, and the live figure is on the booking page. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before is offered on every booking-site listing here, per the booking page.

For most visitors, KJet gives you an hour on Lake Wakatipu and the Kawarau and Shotover rivers from central Queenstown for NZ$159 per adult. Choose the Shotover Jet instead if the narrow canyons are the reason you want to go, even though the ride is shorter. For the smallest adult fare, look at Thunder Jet’s NZ$99 Rise & Ride, if its 9am start from Frankton suits you.

Queenstown jet boat prices at a glance

These are the operators’ published fares for 2026–27, in New Zealand dollars:

KJet’s fares run from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027, and the Shotover Jet’s are valid for travel up to 30 September 2027. Thunder Jet shows no validity period. Some tourism directories and older listings still show earlier prices, so check the fare for your date before you pay.

What is the cheapest jet boat ride in Queenstown?

On the operators’ adult fares, Thunder Jet’s Rise & Ride is the lowest at NZ$99 for 45 minutes. It is not the standard waterfront departure: the operator lists it as a 9am ride from Frankton Marina, back by 9:45am. If you are staying in central Queenstown without a car, add the cost and time of getting to Frankton. GetYourGuide and Viator do not sell it, so it has no booking link here.

Thunder Jet’s regular 30-minute ride from Steamer Wharf is NZ$119 per adult, the shortest option from the town waterfront. For a full hour, KJet and Thunder Jet’s 60-minute ride both charge NZ$159 per adult.

The booking sites can show lower “from” prices than the operators’ adult fares: $56 on GetYourGuide for the Thunder Jet 30-minute ride, for example. A low headline price does not mean there is availability on your date, or that it is for an adult ticket. At checkout, confirm the currency, ticket type, departure point, date, ride length and any extras.

Our Thunder Jet Queenstown page, KJet Queenstown guide and which Queenstown jet boat is right for you cover the rides in more detail.

Every ride, cheapest first

This is every ride on this site, ordered by its lowest booking-site from price. Where a ride is sold on both platforms, both prices are shown. Rides 6 to 9 pair a jet boat with something else, and our combo tours page explains each.

1. Thunder Jet 30 minutes: from $56 on GetYourGuide, from $63 on Viator. 30 minutes on Lake Wakatipu and the Kawarau River from Steamer Wharf.
2. KJet: from $84 on GetYourGuide, from $86 on Viator. 1 hour on the lake and the Kawarau and Shotover rivers from Main Town Pier.
3. Thunder Jet 1 hour: from $86 on Viator. 1 hour from Steamer Wharf; the GetYourGuide Thunder Jet listing sells the hour as an option too.
4. Shotover Jet: from $113 on GetYourGuide, from $118 on Viator. 25 minutes in the Shotover River canyons from Arthurs Point.
5. Skippers Canyon Jet: from $118 on GetYourGuide. A 3-hour tour with return transport from central Queenstown and about 25 minutes on the jet boat on the upper Shotover (the GetYourGuide listing says 30).
6. Jet Sprint and Ultimate Off-Roader: from $165 on Viator. 45 minutes at Oxbow, on State Highway 6 towards Gibbston Valley, combining a sprint boat ride with an off-road vehicle.
7. Dart River Wilderness Jet: from $181 on GetYourGuide, from $190 on Viator. 2 hours from Glenorchy, or about 4 hours with transfers from Queenstown.
8. Kawarau River Rafting and Jet Boat: from $186 on GetYourGuide, from $191 on Viator. 4 hours 30 minutes, with a 25-minute jet boat transfer and an hour of rafting.
9. Dart River Canoe and Jet Boat: from $283 on GetYourGuide, from $297 on Viator. A day trip with a jet boat, a Funyak inflatable canoe and a picnic lunch.

KJet: NZ$159 for a one-hour ride

KJet charges NZ$159 per adult, NZ$79 per child aged 5 to 14 and NZ$397 for two adults and two children, on its retail fares from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2027. Infants aged 2 to 4 ride free, one per adult, if a life jacket fits; the crew decides at check-in whether a child sits on a lap. Check the rules for your child when you book.

From the Main Town Pier, the ride runs about 60 minutes across Lake Wakatipu and along the Kawarau and Shotover rivers. KJet also leaves from Frankton Marina, but that ride is about 40 minutes, so check which departure your ticket covers before you compare prices per minute.

KJet suits travellers who want to start in town, spend more time on the water and see both lake and river. On the booking sites it is from $84 on GetYourGuide and from $86 on Viator; make sure the listing you pick is the 60-minute Main Town Pier ride. Our KJet guide has the full detail.

Shotover Jet: NZ$199 for a 25-minute canyon ride

The Shotover Jet charges NZ$199 per adult, NZ$109 per child and NZ$507 for a family pass of two adults and two children aged 5 to 15. The operator says these prices are valid for travel up to 30 September 2027.

NZ$199 for 25 minutes can look expensive next to KJet’s 60 minutes for NZ$159, but you are paying for a different ride: the narrow Shotover River canyons, close to the rock walls, with the boat’s fast, tight turns. The base is at Arthurs Point, outside central Queenstown, so add the transport and check-in time; with the free shuttle the operator says to allow 1 hour 45 minutes in all.

Choose the Shotover Jet if the canyon is the reason you want to go jet boating. If you want the most minutes on the water, KJet gives you more than twice as long. On the booking sites it is from $113 on GetYourGuide and from $118 on Viator; check whether the option you pick includes the transport. See our Shotover Jet page.

Thunder Jet: three rides at three prices

Thunder Jet’s website lists these options:

• NZ$99 adult, NZ$45 child: the Rise & Ride, 45 minutes from Frankton Marina at 9am.
• NZ$119 adult, NZ$59 child: the 30-minute ride from Steamer Wharf.
• NZ$159 adult, NZ$79 child: the 60-minute ride from Steamer Wharf.

The Steamer Wharf rides cross the lake and run up the Kawarau River. If you can walk to Steamer Wharf and want a shorter ride, Thunder Jet is the handier budget choice in town. The Rise & Ride costs less, but a 9am start from a different place may not fit your day.

The 30-minute ride is from $56 on GetYourGuide and from $63 on Viator; the hour is from $86 on Viator. Book the ride length you want: a 30-minute listing will not get you the 45-minute Frankton ride.

Skippers Canyon Jet: a road trip and a boat ride

Skippers Canyon Jet lists NZ$229 per adult and NZ$109 per child aged 3 to 15 on its own tour page, with a family fare of NZ$458 for two adults and one child.

The jet boat part lasts about 25 minutes, but the whole trip takes 2.5 to 3 hours. The ticket includes a guided drive into historic Skippers Canyon, commentary, photo stops and return transport from Queenstown, so you are paying for a backcountry tour as well as the boat.

It suits travellers who want remote scenery and some gold-rush history. It suits you less if you only have half an hour free or dislike winding mountain roads. On GetYourGuide it is from $118, and that listing includes the road trip. Read our Skippers Canyon page.

Dart River Wilderness Jet: NZ$399 in peak season

From 1 October 2026 to 30 April 2027, Dart River Adventures charges NZ$399 per adult, NZ$299 per child and NZ$1,097 for a family of four for the Wilderness Jet. From 1 May to 30 September 2027 the fares drop to NZ$319, NZ$219 and NZ$857. The boat trip lasts about 2 hours through the Dart River valley near Glenorchy. The operator offers free bus transfers between Queenstown and Glenorchy on selected departures; check the schedule for your date when you book.

This is a different outing from a quick thrill ride in town: longer, more scenic and further away. Book it if you want mountain scenery and a longer guided river trip and have the time. On the booking sites it is from $181 on GetYourGuide and from $190 on Viator. The Dart River canoe and jet boat day trip is a separate product with a different price and length. Our Dart River jet boat page covers both.

Does a longer ride give better value?

On the operators’ adult fares, this is roughly what each minute on the jet boat costs:

*The Skippers figure ignores the guided road trip, transfers and sightseeing in the price. These figures say nothing about quality; they show how much time on the water each fare buys.

On the booking sites’ lowest from prices, the order is similar:

• KJet: about $1.40 a minute (1 hour from $84).
• Thunder Jet 1 hour: about $1.43 a minute (from $86).
• Thunder Jet 30 minutes: about $1.87 a minute on GetYourGuide, or $2.10 on Viator.
• Shotover Jet: about $4.52 a minute (25 minutes from $113).
• Skippers Canyon Jet: about $4.72 per jet boat minute (from $118 for about 25 minutes on the boat), though that price also covers the 3-hour trip into the canyon and back.

The two hour-long rides from central Queenstown come out lowest on both measures, and the Rise & Ride is the smallest total spend, with the half-hour Thunder Jet the smallest from the town waterfront. The Shotover Jet and Skippers Canyon Jet have the highest per-minute figures, but you are paying for something else there: a short run through the narrow Shotover canyons, or a half-day trip into a remote canyon. The Dart River Wilderness Jet works out at about $1.51 a minute of its 2-hour trip from Glenorchy, but you also need to get to Glenorchy, by car or on the transfer.

Someone who wants canyon walls may prefer the Shotover Jet to an hour on wider water; a photographer may find the Dart River’s scenery worth the higher fare. Use ride length as one factor among several.

Family tickets: work out the whole group’s price

Family passes can change the order. For two adults and two children:

• KJet family pass: NZ$397, against NZ$476 for two adult and two child tickets bought separately.
• Shotover Jet family pass: NZ$507, against NZ$616 bought separately.
• Dart River Wilderness Jet family pass: NZ$1,097 from October 2026 to April 2027, against NZ$1,396 bought separately (NZ$857 against NZ$1,076 from May to September 2027).

Thunder Jet lists no family fare on its website, so check the booking page for your ride and date. Skippers Canyon Jet’s family fare covers two adults and one child, not four people: NZ$458, against NZ$567 bought separately.

Each operator sets its own child ages, infant rules, height limits and life-jacket requirements, so check them before you choose tickets. Our best jet boat for families page goes through the questions to ask.

What extra costs should you allow for?

Getting to the departure point

Rides from the Main Town Pier or Steamer Wharf may be a walk from your hotel. Rides from Arthurs Point, Glenorchy or Frankton Marina can mean a taxi, a drive or a booked transfer. Included transfers vary by ride and departure, and some meeting points in town are bus stops for a road transfer.

The two cheapest rides leave from central Queenstown: Thunder Jet from Steamer Wharf and KJet from Main Town Pier. Hotel pickup is not included on the Thunder Jet listing; KJet’s GetYourGuide listing offers pickup from Frankton Marina and lakefront hotels by prior arrangement. The Shotover Jet base is at Arthurs Point, about 10 minutes’ drive from central Queenstown, and GetYourGuide sells a roundtrip transport option. Skippers Canyon includes return transport from town.

Our departure points guide sets out where each ride leaves from and how early to arrive.

Photos and videos

Ride photos and videos are usually extra. They are sold separately on the Shotover Jet, KJet and Skippers listings, so check what is on offer at check-in or on the operator’s page.

Clothing and parking

Life jackets and the safety briefing come with every ride, but you may need your own warm layers, a waterproof jacket and shoes that stay on. Parking fees or taxi fares add to the real cost of a trip. None of the short rides lists food among its inclusions; the Dart River day trip is the only ride here that includes lunch.

Booking flexibility

Check the cancellation deadline and refund terms on the listing you pick. A booking site’s terms can differ from the operator’s own, so do not assume every option is free to cancel up to 24 hours before.

Which Queenstown jet boat should you book for your budget?

Around NZ$100 per adult: Thunder Jet’s 45-minute Rise & Ride at NZ$99, if you can make the 9am start from Frankton Marina. If you need to start in town, the 30-minute ride from Steamer Wharf is NZ$119, or from $56 on GetYourGuide.

Around NZ$150 to NZ$160 per adult: KJet’s one-hour ride from the Main Town Pier and Thunder Jet’s one-hour ride from Steamer Wharf are both NZ$159. Choose by route, the times available and the cancellation terms.

Around NZ$200 to NZ$230 per adult: the Shotover Jet at NZ$199 is the classic narrow-canyon ride. Skippers Canyon Jet at NZ$229 suits you if you would trade a short ride for a longer sightseeing trip and have half a day free.

Around NZ$320 to NZ$400 per adult: the Dart River Wilderness Jet, NZ$399 from October to April or NZ$319 from May to September 2027, is the one for visitors who want a longer trip into alpine wilderness.

How to compare Viator and GetYourGuide offers fairly

Six of these rides are sold on both platforms. In September 2026 GetYourGuide showed the lower from price for all six, by between $2 (KJet) and $14 (the Dart River day trip). Both booking options appear on each ride’s page on this site.

The platform with more reviews varies by ride. GetYourGuide has more for KJet (2,017 against 628) and Thunder Jet (255 against 27). Viator has more for the Shotover Jet (2,907 against 1,743) and the Dart River Wilderness Jet (608 against 171). If you want to read what past riders said before you pay, the larger count is the more useful one to read.

When you compare a listing on each site, or a listing with the operator’s own price:

1. Choose the same named ride, not two products that both say “jet boating Queenstown”.
2. Match the ride length and departure point: 30 against 60 minutes matters, and so does KJet’s Main Town Pier against Frankton.
3. Check the adult, child and family ticket types, and whether the price is in New Zealand or US dollars.
4. Check whether transfers, photos or other activities are included.
5. Read that product’s cancellation and rescheduling rules before you pay.
6. Compare the final checkout total for your date, not a “from” price in the search results.

Where to go next

For a 60-minute ride from town, compare KJet and Thunder Jet at NZ$159 per adult. For the lowest adult fare, Thunder Jet’s NZ$99 Rise & Ride works if a 9am start from Frankton suits you. Choose the Shotover Jet for its canyons, Skippers Canyon Jet for a guided backcountry trip and the Dart River Wilderness Jet for a longer scenic outing. Then compare the checkout totals for the same date, ticket type and ride length, because prices change by date.

For the full picture on the lowest-priced ride, read our Thunder Jet Queenstown page. If time on the water matters more than price, see the longest Queenstown jet boat ride, and for the hour-long pair side by side, KJet vs Thunder Jet. When you have a budget in mind, check availability for your date.