The original, off the bridge where commercial bungy began in 1988. Forty-three metres, twenty minutes from town, and you decide whether to touch the water.
This is where it started. In November 1988 AJ Hackett and Henry van Asch opened the world's first commercial bungy operation off the Kawarau Bridge and charged $75 a jump. It has run ever since, twenty minutes east of Queenstown where the Gibbston road crosses the Kawarau River.
The drop is 43 metres. Of the three AJ Hackett jumps around the district it is the most approachable — high enough to matter, low enough that most people who turn up go through with it.
What you choose on the day
You can go forwards or backwards, solo or tandem. This is the only bungy in the area where you pick your own ending: stay dry above the water, touch it with your hands, or go in to your shoulders. Decide at the top, tell the crew, and they set the cord accordingly.
Practical detail
- Height: 43 metres
- Price: from $320 for adults, from $280 for children, which covers the jump, photos and video, and a T-shirt. Checked August 2026 — see bungy.co.nz for today's rate.
- Age: 10 and over. Under-15s need an adult to sign consent at check-in.
- Weight: 35kg minimum. The upper limit is 150kg, dropping to 130kg when the river is running high. Tandem pairs can total 235kg with no more than 30kg between them.
- How long: allow an hour and a half if you drive yourself, two and a half on the Bungy Bus from town.
- Booking: book at least 48 hours ahead and check in 15 minutes before your jump time, or 30 minutes before the bus goes.
Getting there
The jump sits at the Kawarau Bungy Centre on State Highway 6, about twenty minutes from town on the road to Cromwell. Parking is free and so is watching — the decks below the bridge are open to anyone, and plenty of people come out to watch without jumping. The Bungy Bus runs from the Queenstown Bungy Centre in the Station building if you would rather not drive.
Same site, if you want more than the bridge: the Kawarau Swing and the Kawarau Zipride both run from the centre.
Still deciding? Compare it against the other bungy jumps around Queenstown.
