The Bay of Islands is about a three-hour drive north of Auckland on State Highway 1, much of it through rolling Northland farmland. InterCity and Mana Bus run daily coach services from Auckland to Paihia, taking around four hours. Kerikeri has the only commercial airport in the area, with direct flights from Auckland and Wellington on Air New Zealand — handy if you are short on time.
Once you arrive in Paihia, the passenger ferry to Russell crosses every twenty minutes from 7 am to 10 pm. A separate vehicle ferry runs between Opua and Okiato a few kilometres south, which is the route to take if you have a car and want to base yourself in Russell.