Boaties enjoy best fireworks vantage point

A large number of vessels were on the water to watch the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony fireworks last night. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Auckland's harbour was a hive of activity yesterday as people watched the Rugby World Cup opening celebrations from a quieter, less cramped vantage point, but despite the numbers it was incident free, the Auckland coast guard says.

A large number of vessels were on the water yesterday, Auckland coast guard duty officer Ray Burge said.

But luck had nothing to do with the fact there was no incidents, he said.

"Everybody was well behaved, everybody was prepared, people got on the water early.

"Police, harbour master, coast guard had a lot of vessels on the water keeping an eye on everything, so went very well."

He quashed rumours people were falling from the Viaduct into the harbour and said they did not respond to any incidents like that.

"[It was] probably something that had potential to happen, but no we certainly didn't respond to anything."

However, ferry services into the CBD were stopped when the downtown area was at its fullest.

Authorities said that due to large crowds people were unable to get into ferry terminals and ferries were unable to offload passengers.