Moving to Tauranga
Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty, is one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing cities with beaches of thick white sand. The coastal trail runs from the base of Mount Maunganui all the way to Pāpāmoa East, and is perfect for walking or cycling. Swim with the family, surf with a few mates, or try your luck fishing for dinner. The iconic Mount (traditionally known as Mauao) stands at the harbour entrance where local celebrity Sammy the Seal can often be spotted sunbathing at the base. Tauranga is an hour’s scenic coastal drive to Whakatāne, and under an hour to Rotorua, with Taupō and the ski fields beyond.
Crown has been moving households into New Zealand for over 60 years. Our local Tauranga team plans deliveries around traffic, the harbour crossing and the new subdivisions still being built out. With a network in 54 countries, our Crown team looks after your move from your overseas front door to your new front door in NZ. And we can help you find that new door too. Below, our Tauranga team answers the questions people ask most about life in the Bay of Plenty. We’ll also walk through how a move with Crown works, from a free quote to delivery day. New to the country altogether? Start with our guide to moving to New Zealand.
We’ve been Moving Kiwis around New Zealand and the world for over 60 years! When you choose to move with Crown you will find us to be more than just a relocation company, we really care about what we do and how we do it!
Relocating to Tauranga With Crown
The Crown team in Tauranga are very familiar with day-to-day life in and around the city. They will book your delivery slot around school-run traffic and the harbour bridge, and they know the access rules for new subdivisions and retirement villages. You’ll be assigned a move manager who will find out what you need, organise all of your move, and keep in touch the whole way.
Home find and settling-in support
Renting or purchasing in an overseas market can be daunting. This is where a specialist moving company with a footing in the region benefits you most: a local consultant will guide you through potential properties that align with your move goals and help you settle in once you land.
Storage in Tauranga
Goods got here before you? We offer short-term storage for your move, and if you intend to store some items for longer, long-term storage is also available. Your move manager can schedule your stored goods to arrive on move-in day when you get the keys to your new home.
Pet relocation
Bringing your furry loved ones to New Zealand is possible through our vetted specialist partners. Your move manager coordinates this alongside your move, taking the stress out of meeting New Zealand’s biosecurity rules and regulations.
Vehicle relocation
We’ll help you understand the costs, requirements and practical considerations of importing your vehicle, and can organise to have it shipped to New Zealand for you.
Transit insurance
We offer optional insurance cover for your household goods, covering loss or damage that happens during your move. No third parties.
More ways Crown can help
We are here to help. We can offer currency transfer, furniture hire, and set up utility connections with Fast Connect on your behalf. Ask your move manager.
Our Quoting and Moving Process
Crown’s quote process starts with a free consultation to understand your specific needs, access conditions and moving dates. After requesting a quote, one of our trained Crown consultants will survey your home in person or by video call, and assemble a list of the items that are going.
Your quote largely depends on two things: how much space your goods will take up, and what their final destination is. A door-to-door move finishes inside your new home, while a door-to-store move finishes at our Tauranga warehouse.
- Survey and quote
A consultant surveys your home, makes a list of what’s going where, and gives you a written quote, including an estimate of how long shipping will take. - Decide what to bring
Next, it’s time to decide what’s worth shipping and what might be better to sell before the move. This is also when you should check for any items that can’t be imported into New Zealand. - Professional packing
At your overseas address, our trained crew will securely pack your belongings for shipping and provide you with a detailed packing inventory. - International freight
Your belongings are shipped by sea or air. While they’re in transit, you’ll be able to follow their progress through Crown’s tracking system. - Customs and MPI clearance
Crown lodges the paperwork required to clear customs. Once your belongings arrive, the Ministry for Primary Industries will inspect them for biosecurity risks. Outdoor gear, garden tools, wooden items and anything carrying soil or seeds will get flagged, so make sure to clean these before packing. - Storage in Tauranga, if needed
If your house isn’t ready, we can hold your goods in our secure Tauranga facility. If you know you’ll need storage ahead of time, it can be included in your quote, or arranged and billed separately later. - Access check
Before the scheduled delivery date, the local crew will check which side of the harbour you’re on and plan around the bridge and school-run traffic, and confirm any access rules for new subdivisions still being built out or retirement villages, so the right vehicles and personnel turn up at the right time. - Delivery and unpacking
The big day! Our local crew will deliver your items to you. Whether you’ve bought a house or are moving into a flat, a new-build in Pāpāmoa East or Tauriko, or a retirement village unit, we make sure everything ends up in the room where it belongs, and we also dispose of packaging and reassemble furniture for you.ou.
If your plans change mid-move, tell your coordinator as soon as possible.
Get a QuoteHow We Can Help You Settle Into Tauranga
The Crown team in Tauranga are locals from the region, ready to help get you settled. What surprises newcomers is how much the beach is part of daily life. Whether it’s a simple walk or a jog, the beach in Tauranga is not just a holiday experience. Tauranga is a buy-local, support-local kind of place and there’s always a market on somewhere. A few things our team would rather you knew from the beginning so you can come prepared: New Zealand is expensive day to day, food especially, so check out local produce in the markets. Tauranga’s housing is among the dearest outside Auckland, and traffic can get really slow, specially in the first and last terms of school.
Where should we live – the Mount, Pāpāmoa, or the city side of the harbour?
Where you work can help decide which side of the harbour you live on, so plan work and school travel around the bridge at peak times. Then keep your search for a home within that side wide across all suburbs, as housing can be hard to find. Our Crown Tauranga team delivers to both sides of the harbour, and we offer help finding a home if you’re looking to offload some of the stress of your move.
Tauranga’s coast from the Mount down to Pāpāmoa offers a beautiful beach lifestyle, with surfing, swimming and fishing on the beach, along with stunning coastal views with walking and cycling trails. Our orientation tour can show you your actual commute at school-run time, in both directions across the bridge, so you can see what living beach-first would mean.
On the city side of the harbour, suburbs around the CBD such as The Avenues, Judea, Greerton, Matua and Ōtūmoetai offer close access to the hospital and the port. Properties there are very sought after and more expensive, so expect some competition. Central Tauranga is full of great places, such as The Historic Village with boutique shops and cafés, and The Strand waterfront.
How hard is it to find a home in Tauranga, and how do we plan around that?
It can be very difficult to buy or rent a house in Tauranga and the surrounding areas due to the influx of people moving from Auckland in recent years. You might be lucky and find a really good deal, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to find them. The search can take time, so Crown offers furnished temporary accommodation, letting you search without a hard deadline. And if your shipment arrives before you’ve found a place to live, we also have storage available until you’re ready to move in.
For seniors moving to Tauranga, there’s a large variety of retirement villages to choose from, from coastal village living to suburban villages. If you’re unsure where to start when looking for your new home, our home-finding service can help you find a place that suits your needs. Getting utilities connected at the right time can add unnecessary pressure, so we offer a Fast Connect service.
Do we need a car in Tauranga, and how bad is the traffic?
It can be quite difficult to get across Tauranga without your own transport. Tauranga’s public transport provider, Baybus, runs between the CBD, the Mount, Bayfair and Pāpāmoa, but services are infrequent outside business hours. If you live and work centrally, in the CBD or the Mount, Ubers and e-scooters can be quicker to work, and there are bike lanes. We offer a local orientation for those who want to drive their route at peak time before they commit to a suburb.
If you’re planning to bring your vehicle into the country, Crown will let you know whether it’s worth bringing, or whether you should buy one in New Zealand. We offer vehicle shipping, and if you’re planning to arrive after your vehicle, we offer vehicle storage to hold it until you and your goods arrive.
Is Tauranga a good place for a family?
Yes, Tauranga is a very family-friendly place, with the beach for the kids to swim and play, and surfing and fishing for all ages. The Strand waterfront is now a large family-friendly place to swim and play, and the Hairy Maclary sculptures there are a worthwhile stop for all ages.
There’s a great variety of schools to choose from, and you’ll need to check zoning when you find a school in the suburb you’re interested in. School zones apply, and enrolments need a permanent address, which matters in a city with a shortage of housing.
Moving with kids can be stressful, so we offer an education guide and a school search service for those who want a stress-free move.
How do newcomers meet people in Tauranga?
Arts, music, sports and social groups for all ages can be found on What’s on in Tauranga. Stopping by the markets, you’ll meet the locals who bring life to Tauranga: the Little Big Markets at the Mount, the Pāpāmoa Markets, Te Puke, and Dinner in the Domain with the food trucks in Pāpāmoa over summer. The stallholders are local, and buying local is how you get to know the place. Eating out is a great way to meet new people and get a taste of what Tauranga has to offer. Our intercultural support service can help you find your way into local life.
If you’ve got children, meeting other parents through school or kindergartens, or going to school holiday programmes in the local libraries can help you meet other families. From the base of Mauao to Pāpāmoa East, you can walk or cycle all along the coast. Parks and trails are also available in Welcome Bay, McLaren Falls. A guided look around can be arranged if you’d like a local to show you the area.
How do we manage before our furniture arrives?
Sea freight takes weeks or months, and the home search here can take a while too. Having temporary accommodation lined up while you wait for your goods or looking for a more permanent home is very useful. If your goods arrive while you’re still searching for a home, split delivery is available for essentials, with the rest held until your new home is found. Your goods can also stay in short-term storage until your new home is found. If you find a home before your shipment lands, furniture hire can furnish it until your own arrives. Shipment tracking is available so you can see where your goods are as they travel to New Zealand.
Tauranga Moving Company Reviews
FAQs for Moving to Tauranga
It depends on the volume you ship, access at both ends, where in the Bay of Plenty you’re going and how quickly you need it. Sea freight is cheaper than air but slower, and storage, insurance, pet and vehicle transport are priced separately. The only accurate figure is a written quote from a free survey, in person or by video. Request one here.
Get your survey done early, decide what to ship or replace, clean anything that’s been outdoors, and sort your visa paperwork. Start pet and vehicle processes early, as they run to their own timelines. Tauranga’s rentals are tight, so book temporary accommodation before you land, and contact schools before you arrive: enrolment needs a permanent address.
Yes. Once your belongings are packed and on their way, you can follow their progress through Crown’s shipment tracking system, from your overseas address to arrival in New Zealand and on to delivery. Your move manager will also keep you updated if anything changes.
The biggest factors are how you ship, where from, how quickly your goods clear customs and MPI, and whether your Tauranga home is ready. Air is faster than sea, a shared container waits until it’s full before it leaves, and the shipping line decides which port your container comes in through: many arrive at the Port of Tauranga, but one that lands in Auckland needs a road or rail leg. Ports slow down over Christmas and New Year, and summer is the Bay of Plenty’s busiest moving season, so delivery slots book up faster. Complete paperwork and clean outdoor gear keep customs and MPI clearance short.
Locally, the Harbour Bridge, school-run traffic, narrow streets at the Mount and the access rules in new subdivisions and retirement villages all shape when and how we deliver; our access check sorts this early. If your home isn’t ready, your goods wait in our Tauranga storage, and redelivery needs seven working days’ notice. Your move manager gives you a shipping estimate with your quote and keeps you updated as each stage clears.
We hold them in secure storage in Tauranga until you’re ready. In practice this is the normal order here: the home search takes time, so your shipment often lands while you’re still in temporary accommodation. Storage is weekly with no fixed term; give us seven working days’ notice for delivery, and we can split-deliver essentials sooner if you need them.
Anything used outdoors or made of wood or cane: surfboards, fishing and dive gear, bikes, camping gear, BBQs, garden tools, lawnmowers and outdoor furniture. Clean them with soap and warm water and declare them on your inventory; MPI inspects them on arrival, and anything still dirty is treated at your cost or destroyed. Some foods are prohibited outright.
Beyond the move itself, our Tauranga team can arrange home find and school search, storage, pet transport, vehicle shipping, transit insurance, utility connections, and a range of additional services such as sending money overseas. Contact our Tauranga branch with any questions about your move.
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Ready to Make Tauranga Home?
Tell us where you’re moving from and what you’re bringing, and our team will take it from there. Get a quote today, or contact our Tauranga branch with any questions about the move.
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