north island includes all diving and half day boat trips, so maximum value would be if one is doing a lot of that, taking advantage of things that are included in rate

This is a very good point and something I forgot to mention. On the other hand, their excursion prices are ridiculous. 3500 vs. 1500 (fregate).

I would wonder what North's included wine list is. Maia had around 20 decent bottles of wine available while Fregate has less than half a dozen, two of which appear to be over $15 and no mixed drinks.

If someone likes to fish/dive and has two kids + they have good drinks + they don't do many excursions, the high price could certainly be justifiable. Plus you can bump into movie stars, which is something that bumpkin-old-me, thinks is really cool.