Cruise Details

Experience our leisurely, fun and informative cruise aboard Aihe, seeking out wildlife encounters in Paterson Inlet. Enjoy the lovely scenic bush covered coastline. Your crew will provide interesting information about wildlife seen and ensure you have time for excellent photo opportunities. 

This tour operates towards the eastern side of Paterson Inlet, based on weather, sea conditions and wildlife opportunities.

NOTE

We recommend combining this cruise with our Ulva Island Birds & Forest or Ulva Island Birding and / or Evening Eco Watch / Kiwi Spotting.  Alternatively we can also offer a water taxi charter for independent walking on Ulva Island.

Location

Paterson Inlet

birds seen

Some commonly seen birds include:

Sea birds: White-capped mollymawk, Buller's mollymawk, little blue penguin

Shore birds: White-fronted tern, black-fronted tern, pied and variable oystercatchers, Stewart Island shag, spotted shag, pied shag, little black shag.

Note: on some of our trips we have also seen yellow-eyed penguin, Fiordland crested penguin, sooty shearwater, common diving petrel, cape pigeon, Australasian gannet, skua.

Wildlife Seen

Bottle-nosed dolphins and fur seals are seen occasionally.

Special Offers

Please also see our Gift Vouchers & Special Offers page for combined tours that include our Ulva Island Birding tour.

Testimonial

"Furhana was a fabulous guide, is extremely knowledgable and knew just where to look for wildlife in Paterson Inlet. She is a competent skipper and the boat was perfect for wildlife viewing. Furhana was also very generous with her time and made a real effort to ensure everyone onboard got great views. We saw about 25 little blue penguins, two impressive mollymawks right next to the boat, lots of other birds including spotted shags, terns, and heron and even two white tail deer. We didn't see any dolphin, but it was not for lack of trying on Furhana's part, who worked hard to make the trip fun and informative."

Andrea

Itinerary

  • What we do

    Meet our Skipper at Golden Bay Wharf, 10 minutes prior to the tour departure time.

    Your skipper will make you comfortable, show you where we are going and take you on our leisurely and informative cruise.  

PIWC IMG 2900
Ruggedy Range™
Wildlife viewing abroad Aihe

Pricing & Info

Adult

NZ $175.00 per person

Important: We also offer a 1 hour cruise (NZ $110.00) or 1.5 hour cruise (NZ $140.00), subject to our schedules.  Enquiries welcome.

Child

NZ $130.00 per person

Important: We also offer a 1 hour cruise (NZ $70.00) or 1.5 hour cruise (NZ $100.00), subject to our schedules.  Enquiries welcome.

Includes

Wildlife cruise, admin costs.

Extra

Transfers to and/or from Golden Bay Wharf: NZ $10.00 one-way or NZ $20.00 return per person.

Min persons

4 persons

Important: If your booking is for less than the minimum, check to see if we have achieved the minimum or, we can reserve spaces, whilst we await further bookings.

Max persons

8 to 12 persons

Duration

2.5 hours

Time

Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr
9.00 am to 11.30 am or 1.45 pm to 4.15 pm

May, Jun, Jul, Aug
10.00 am to 12.30 pm

Important: Times may vary for weather/sea conditions, tides and bookings.  Alternative times to fit in with your itinerary may be possible, subject to our availability.

Start/End

Golden Bay Wharf

Suitable for

Reasonable fitness and agility.
Not suitable for children below the age of 7 years.

Departure Dates

Departs subject to demand and suitable weather and sea conditions.
Prior bookings recommended.