Addresses, opening hours, online booking, published fees and services for 254 optometry practices across New Zealand, each checked against the practice's own website. 175 offer online booking. Pick a region or a town to compare the practices near you.
15 regions, north to south. Each region page groups its practices by town.
66 towns and cities with listed practices, A to Z. Start typing to narrow the list.
No town matches that. Try the region list.
How this directory works
Optometrists NZ is a national directory of optometry practices in New Zealand, built and published by Backroom Ops, Hamilton. Each listed practice's details come from its own website, and practices are ordered and badged by published criteria.
No. You can book directly with any optometrist in New Zealand; no GP referral is needed. Optometrists examine your eyes, prescribe glasses and contact lenses, and many hold a therapeutic endorsement that lets them treat conditions such as eye infections and inflammation. If you need surgery or specialist treatment, the optometrist refers you to an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon).
Fees vary by practice and by what the examination includes (for example imaging or scans). Of the 254 practices in this directory, 95 publish a standard adult eye examination fee on their own website, and those published fees range from $30 to $189. Practices that publish a fee carry the "Publishes its fees" badge, and each practice page shows the fee as the practice states it. Always confirm the price and what it includes when you book, as additional tests may cost extra.
Yes, for some families. Children aged 15 and under whose family holds a Community Services Card or High Use Health Card can claim the Enable New Zealand spectacle subsidy towards an eye examination and glasses; the optometrist usually makes the claim for you, so ask when you book. Check Enable New Zealand for the current amount and eligibility rules. 170 of the practices listed here say on their website that they see children.
Your eyesight is checked at the driver licensing agent when you apply for or renew a licence. If you do not pass the screening check there, you need an eyesight certificate from an optometrist or a doctor. 102 practices in this directory list driver licence eyesight certificates on their website (look for the "Driver licence" tag on a practice card), and most practices can do the check even if they do not advertise it — phone and ask.
Sudden loss of vision, a curtain or shadow across your vision, new flashes with a shower of floaters, a chemical splash or a penetrating eye injury need urgent hospital care — call 111 or go to your nearest hospital emergency department. For a painful red eye, something in your eye, or a sudden change in vision that is not an emergency, phone an optometrist the same day; 30 practices here list urgent or same-day appointments on their website (the "Urgent" tag), and many others will fit you in if you call.
Within each town and region, practices are listed in order of how many of twelve services they list on their own website, then alphabetically. Badges are verifiable facts, not ratings: the widest range of services in a town, the lowest published exam fee in a region, whether the practice publishes its fees, names its optometrists, or is open seven days. No practice can pay for its position or a badge, and the publisher's own practice is scored by exactly the same rules. Read the full method.