(Rarotonga, Cook Islands) – Two traditional Polynesian voyaging canoes, Hōkūlea and Hikianalia, are preparing to depart Rarotonga for Aotearoa as part of the Moananuiākea Voyage, a multi-year circumnavigation of the Pacific led by the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS).

For many in Aotearoa, this will be the first opportunity in more than a decade to welcome Hikianalia and the famous double-hulled canoe Hōkūlea, an icon of the Hawaiian cultural renaissance and of the global revival of traditional Polynesian non-instrument navigation, using stars, winds, and waves. Founded in 1973, the nonprofit Polynesian Voyaging Society has spent five decades reviving and teaching these ancestral skills while inspiring care for the ocean and the planet we share.

The two canoes will sail nearly 2,000 nautical miles south from the Cook Islands on an open-ocean voyage expected to take two to three weeks, depending on weather. They are currently being provisioned and cared for in Rarotonga while awaiting a safe weather window and the full arrival of the Leg 15 crew.

While earlier plans included stops in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga, voyage leadership determined that the safest route is to sail directly to Aotearoa — the same route Hōkūlea followed 40 years ago on its first voyage here. Those island nations will be visited in 2026 as the Pacific circumnavigation continues.

“Aotearoa—land of the long white cloud—is an extraordinary place, a powerful definition of who we are as Polynesia,” said Nainoa Thompson, CEO of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the first Native Hawaiian in 600 years to navigate a voyaging canoe to Tahiti and back to Hawaii with traditional non-instrument navigation, and who navigated Hōkūlea on the first voyage to Aotearoa 40 years ago. “We want to use our time there to bring our Polynesian people together, especially the voyaging communities, to train, learn, and prepare for the next 50 years of leadership.”

This upcoming visit will be Hōkūlea’s third time sailing to Aotearoa. After the first landing in 1985, Hōkūlea, accompanied by Hikianalia, returned to New Zealand in 2014 during the Mālama Honua Worldwide Voyage.

Honoring 40 Years of Connection

This arrival marks 40 years since Hōkūlea’s first landfall in Aotearoa in 1985, when the canoe was welcomed at Waitangi. That moment helped spark a Māori voyaging renaissance and forged a special kinship between Hawaii and Aotearoa. The Hawaii crew were bestowed the name Ngāti Ruawāhia by Sir James Tau Henare, leader of the time of Te Tii Marae. He declared the Hōkūlea crew as the "sixth tribe" of the Te Tai Tokerau region, similar to the five tribes who had arrived by canoe centuries before.

The canoes are expected to reach Te Tii Bay, Waitangi, on 14 November 2025, weather permitting. A pōwhiri (formal Māori welcoming ceremony) will follow from 3 to 6 p.m. at Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae.

On 15 November, a dawn ceremony will unveil a new carving representing Ngāti Ruawāhia, followed by a 40-year tribute honoring Sir James Henare, Sir Hector Busby, and Hawaiian leader Myron “Pinky” Thompson, father of Nainoa Thompson and longtime PVS president.

The canoes will remain at Waitangi through 16 November, with events hosted by Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae in collaboration with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Kamehameha Schools.

Auckland Welcome and Educational Engagements

On 18 November, Hōkūlea and Hikianalia will sail south to Auckland, where they will be welcomed at Waitematā Harbour by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. While docked near the New Zealand Maritime Museum, the crew plan to host community visits and dockside canoe tours.

Nainoa Thompson will also present at the World Indigenous Peoples’ Conference on Education (WIPCE) on 19 November, sharing the story of the 40-year relationship between Hawaiian and Māori navigators and how ancient knowledge continues to guide sustainable futures.

Later that week, weather permitting, the canoes will sail north to Aurere, home of the late Sir Hector Busby, master navigator, waka builder, and one of the great leaders of Māori voyaging, to pay tribute to his legacy.

Six-Month Stay and Next Voyage Legs

The canoes will remain in Aotearoa for about six months, both to continue educational exchanges and to wait out the South Pacific cyclone season. Maintenance and dry-dock work will also be undertaken before the voyage continues in April or May 2026 to Tonga, Samoa, and American Samoa, and later to Melanesia and Micronesia.

Crew travel for each leg is supported by Hawaiian Airlines, a long-time partner of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a lead sponsor of the Moananuiākea Voyage.

Further details about the canoes’ schedule and local events in Aotearoa will be announced closer to arrival.

About the Polynesian Voyaging Society

Founded in 1973 in Hawaii, the Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is a nonprofit organisation dedicated to preserving and teaching the art and science of traditional Polynesian navigation. Through its double-hulled canoes Hōkūlea and Hikianalia, PVS connects communities across the Pacific, inspiring environmental stewardship, cultural pride, and a deeper understanding that we are all crew members of one island Earth.

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