Butterfly Creek

Manukau, New Zealand

3.8

5 reviews

Contacts

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Telephone:
+64 9-275 8880
Website:
www.butterflycreek.co.nz
Address:
10 Tom Pearce Dr, Manukau, Auckland, 2022
Manukau
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miManukau
0.4 miAUT Shuttle
0.6 miSchool
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Today

Today –
Local time (Manukau) 9:28 PM Saturday, July 5, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Butterfly Creek has a unique collection of animals and exhibits, a train and a one of a kind Dinosaur park!

Exhibits and animals include saltwater crocodiles, a tropical butterfly house, aquaria, farm animals, spiders and insects, alligators, tamarin monkeys, birds and more!

Butterfly Creek hosts a fantastic day out all year round with undercover attractions and free parking. There is a delicious café and a free playground. Our venue is also available for events such as kids parties, conferences, Christmas parties and functions with full catering on site.

Open 7 days including public holidays.

History

Established in 2002.

Butterfly Creek was established by the GM, John Dowsett, whose vision was to create a unique, high quality, interesting and affordable Auckland attraction. Butterfly Creek was to be based around a selection of tropical exhibits and family-​friendly attractions. Construction commenced in 2002 and we have been steadily adding on more attractions ever since. First to open were Buttermilk Farm, the Red Admiral Express Train, the playground and party room as well as the family-​friendly Papillon Café, the retail shop and function rooms. Stage 1 also included constructing a working wetland over and around which Butterfly Creek is located. The Tropical Butterfly House and Aquaria then opened in 2004.

Since then the exhibits and animal collection has grown immensely. We imported 5 alligators, then crocodiles then finally Dinosaur Kingdom opened in 2014.

Vicinity

Near this location:
1
ft
Manukau Institute of Technology
Private Bag 94006
10
ft
Carissa Cat Caressa
Manukau
10
ft
Nicky’s School of Dance
2E Harrington
10
ft
Anchorage Park Kindergarten
9 Tiaka Pl
50
ft
Bank of New Zealand
500 Ti Rakau Northpark, Manukau City
320
ft
AA Centre
39 Cavendish Drive

5 reviews of Butterfly Creek

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Place rating: 4
Auckland, New Zealand
Great place for m kids to experience butterflies, bugs n crocs. However they can expand the area to make it more enjoyable. Train ride was very short but exhilarating. Enjoy food in café or take some from outside bbq it’s equally worth the money.
Place rating: 3
Auckland, New Zealand
Butterfly Creek is definitely an interesting location for a children’s birthday party.
The Papillon café offers children’s fare of chicken nuggets, fish, Cheerios or hotdog with French fries and cartoon juice drink (Barbie, Dora, Ben 10) for $ 10.
Altura coffee is on offer, rather have Allpress or supreme please.
Adults can have cabinet food, a la carte menu and board specials, ranging from $ 7-​$ 18. Not bad.
Then the fun begins with dinosaur kingdom, train, crocodiles, butterfly house, aquarium, monkeys and other reptiles.
Cool and scary.
Entry is reasonable from $ 11-​$ 23 for above.
The service is appalling, you have to ask staff for assistance, and unfriendly at times.
Oh, they have a child-​safe playground too!
Place rating: 4
Portland, OR
Butterfly Creek is a really serene place. Pay the entry fee and then head through to a large area where, if you’re lucky enough, butterflies will come and land on you. There are some truly exotic butterflies here — really stunning looking. It’s hard to photograph them unless they’re stationery, so take your time and you’ll hopefully get some nice shots. I went there with a few friends — we discussed «strategy» and decided that wearing bright coloured clothing would make the butterflies want to land on us. In the end that didn’t work at all, but one of our group had a secret weapon in her bag that worked! We all slathered ourselves with cocoa butter cream, and then the little critters flocked, landing all over our arms.
Place rating: 4
Auckland, New Zealand
I had just been to farwell my father at the Auckland airport located very close by, and was feeling a little bit sad, so my partner and the kids thought Butterfly Creek would cheer me up.
I love that the café here can host your child’s birthday party and carry it off with a cool Butterfly Creek theme, happy kids, well fed, and lots of fun to see and do.
As I sipped on my fizzy orange phoenix drink, at the café, I was ready to explore more of this fantastic butterfly, reptile and animal wonderland.
The first stop was a tropical enclosed garden full of 100’s of beautiful butterfly’s fluttering around happily, outside I got a birds eye peek at New Zealand’s only salt water crocodiles, what a treat!
Later a farm style petting zoo with rabbits, sheep and lambs, goats, and even pigs– if your around at the right time take part in feeding either the cute lambs or goats.
I really enjoyed the down to earth nature of this whole operation, and the children really loved the butterfly house and farm experience.
Place rating: 4
Auckland, New Zealand
The butterfly is the only insect I’m a fan of, with it’s beautiful, graceful way about it, fluttering from flower to flower. The white ones do like eating your vege patch, but that’s the only really annoying trait they possess.
Naturally, Butterfly Creek is the home of these pretty creatures. Entry will get you into a large cage where they hang out. Some are rare, such as the big blue butterflies, and others more common, like the monarch. My secret desire was to have one land on me, so I stayed a much longer time than most people. However, they were not quite that tame.
They also have a small tropical aquarium and some reptiles, such as crocs and alligators to enlarge your stay.
After your short visit (and realistically, it’s only about 20 mins — half an hour), you can buy a momento at the gift store or hang out in the café.
I thought the entry price was rather steep ($ 23) as the zoo was half that price for 3 times as many things to see, but the experience was a good one. A one time wonder.