Blue penguins are found around New Zealand and the southern parts of Australia.

Blue Penguins Pukekura is one of the best places to see wild kororā (little blue penguins) in their natural habitat.

Penguins return at night and our tours are timed to coincide with their arrival returning from the ocean each evening. Visitors watch from a purpose‑built viewing platform overlooking the sea where penguins land after spending time at sea feeding.

Penguins arrive at dusk so their arrival time onto the beach varies seasonally with changing daylight hours.

Our tours begin before dusk, so visitors are in position when the first rafts of penguins return from feeding at sea.

Yes. They are very well adapted to all weather. Rain has no effect on them, so if it is raining bring a jacket, the penguins will still come in.

We have three great tour options available every day.

The Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience Tour (1.5 hours) is best for visitors with limited time but want excellent penguin viewing opportunities.

Our Behind-The-Scenes and Blue Penguins Pukekura tour (2 hours 45 minutes) is an extended version. It is our most immersive penguin experience that connects our daytime conservation work with the magic of watching penguins return at dusk.

For those without transport then choose the Otago-Peninsula In-Depth Tour (5 hours) as it is excellent value for anyone wanting a rich, guided overview of the Otago Peninsula plus also getting the full penguin‑arrival experience.

The Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience tour is 1.5 hours long.

The Behind-The-Scenes tour is 2 hours 45 minutes, it includes the Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience tour.

The Otago Peninsula In-Depth tour is approximately 5 hours long and it includes the Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience Tour.

The Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience tour is 1.5 hours long and is suitable for all ages.

Our other two tours are not suitable for children.

No. But be aware that visitors need to be able to walk unaided along gravel paths without any handrails. Also there are over 70 inbuilt steps along the walkway. It is a fairly steep walk down a hill to get to the viewing platform.

See the bottom of our website for photos of the walk down to the platform.

For The Behind-The-Scenes tour, that tour requires visitors to have a moderate level of fitness.

Yes. The tours are operated by a Charitable Trust with the aim of ensuring the penguins and the land is protected and flourishes.

The penguin population has grown from less than 10 pairs in the 1980’s to over 250 pairs now.

Our work is solely funded from Visitor revenue which directly supports habitat protection, monitoring, and long‑term penguin conservation.

Our work is solely funded from Visitor revenue which directly supports habitat protection, monitoring, and long‑term penguin conservation.

We also have a strong focus on giving back with free tours to New Zealand First Responders (people who save lives), donations to other conservation charities and pays our staff.

When you join our tour, you will be able to see where most of your money goes, you see and learn about protecting the whenua (land) and the wildlife found within our reserve

Yes. The reserve we work on is owned by Māori and the headland is an incredibly important site. On our tours and through knowledge sharing you will learn more about the cultural significance of this headland and the work we do to protect the whenua (land) and the significant wildlife populations.

Blue penguins emerge from the sea and then walk to within 2 or 3 metres of where you are standing. This is extremely close viewing of penguins, no binoculars needed!

Throughout the tour our guides and biologists move people around our platform so you will see penguins super close!

We manage our reserve and restrict people to our purpose-built viewing platform and as this is a guided tour we ensure correct behaviour around the penguins. Because of this the penguins do not fear us and often stand right beside our guests.

However, in unmanaged sites the answer to this question is yes unfortunately. Unmanaged sites penguins can be negatively affected by the behaviour of visitors.

Ours is a conservation success story with a population that was fewer than 10 pairs in the 1980s to over 250 pairs today.

As a Charitable Trust our protection work and growth in penguin numbers is entirely funded from our managed penguin viewing experiences. If you want to view penguins in New Zealand and not cause problems for them, choose a guided tour option.

During the day our platform that is situated in our reserve is open and free to access but note that as penguins do not arrive until after dark no penguins are visible during the day. We ask that guests remain on the platform to prevent damage to penguin habit.

The reserve and viewing platform is closed before dusk.

Viewing of penguins and access to the platform at night is controlled to protect the penguins and ensure responsible behaviour of visitors. This is only by our guided tour.

Scientific studies show that several penguin species are adversely affected by human visitation, especially when tourism is unmanaged.

Oue reserve is managed and we have a population that has increased from less than 10 pairs in the 1980s to over 250 pairs today. Sadly, this is not the case for unmanaged penguin populations. We know that for blue penguins on the Otago Peninsula the number of breeding locations decreased from over 30 different nesting locations in the 1970s to just 11 nesting locations by the 1990s. Some of this reduction was due to human activities.

If you truly want to see penguins and help them, choose a managed guided tour.

Yes. Numbers vary with breeding cycles, moulting, and seasonal feeding patterns. Spring and summer typically see the highest number of birds with many nights seeing hundreds.

The non-breeding periods of March to August we expect between 10-80 birds seen nightly.

Blue Penguins Pukekura does guarantee penguins and offer 50% refunds if we see fewer than 5 penguins or 100% refund if no penguins were seen.

Yes! Definitely!! Spaces are limited and Blue Penguins Pukekura tours are extremely popular.

From September to May, we are often sold-out several weeks in advance.

The Otago Peninsula can be cool and windy, even in summer. We recommend 4 layers of clothes and comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

We are outside for much of the tour and stand on an open platform for about 1 hour so bring a jacket if rain is forecast.

Yes! We have lights on around the platform that don’t harm the penguins, and the light gives us great views of them.

We allow photography but do not allow flash photography as the sudden burst of light can startle the birds.

We do not allow tripods as these are a trip hazard in the dark.

The full policy is available on the Cancellation & Refund Policy page of the website.

If we cancel the tour due to weather or another issue outside our control, we will fully refund all direct bookings made through out website.

The colony is located at Pukekura on the Otago Peninsula, approximately 45 minutes’ drive from central Dunedin. Detailed directions are available on our website’s Location + Contact page.

We start our Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience Tour and our Behind-The-Scenes tours within the Royal Albatross Centre

Pukekura is a haven for seabirds. Northern Royal Albatross nest on the other side of the same headland. You might see some flying about when you arrive for your penguin tour but if you want to see the nest sites of the albatross you would need to book a tour with the Royal Albatross Centre (a different company from Blue Penguins Pukekura).

Over summer many other seabird species breed on this headland, it is a hotspot for seabird viewing.

On our beach we often see New Zealand fur seals and New Zealand sea lions.

No. We only see blue penguins. Yellow-Eyed Penguins are rare and do occur elsewhere on the Otago Peninsula but not at our reserve. See the bottom of our website to learn more.

Our tours start late in the evening and there are limited places to eat on the Otago Peninsula.

The Royal Albatross Centre cafe is open up until about 1 hour before our Blue Penguins Pukekura Tour starts.

Portobello on the Otago Peninsula has a restaurant (but it is not open every day),

Dunedin is a large city so there are plenty of options available to dine there before you come out to see the penguins.

We have a coffee cart at our penguin viewing platform that is open for hot drinks throughout the penguin tour.

Dress warmly, allow 1 hour to drive from Dunedin to reach us.

Check out our reviews on google or TripAdvisor, you will see many people write this is one of the best highlights of their New Zealand trip and it makes for such special memories. We hope you love it too and we look forward to sharing this experience with you!