Otago Peninsula In-Depth Tour and Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience (5 Hours)

Formed millions of years ago from a series of major volcanic eruptions, the Otago Peninsula has some of the best spectacular coastal scenery.

Now a wild bustling haven for wildlife, we regularly see albatross, penguins, seals and a variety of wading and land birds as we explore the peninsula.

If you are a visitor that truly wants to see and understand the unique ecosystems, wildlife, culture, geology and botany of the Otago Peninsula then this tour is the one for you!

Join us on this tour designed by our Operations Manager, Lyndon Perriman, former wildlife ranger for the Otago Peninsula for over 30 years! Designed for those that are nature enthusiasts, for those that want to see and learn as much as possible about the environment, the species we see and the places we visit. Gain unique insights into the cultural connection of the people of this land as we travel to remote areas of the Otago Peninsula weaving many stories and visiting significant sites to Māori along our near 100km return journey.

“The best value tour of the peninsula to see a range of species, to learn from experts and be guided and become fully immersed in the Otago Peninsula’s natural beauty”.

At $165 for nearly 5 hours, that works out at just $33/hour ! Let someone else do the driving and show you the peninsula and its wildlife!

Tour Itinerary

After departing Dunedin, we take the scenic high road on the Otago Peninsula to give guests an overview of the city, the peninsula and the geological past that has shaped this peninsula. 

Along the way we detour off from sealed roads to venture along back country unsealed roads. Here we explore tidal inlets, vast areas of highly productive marine ecosystems that feed the range of wading bird species we see.

For those with a botanical interest, we view native forest plant species and discuss how New Zealand's early split from the super-continent Gondwana impacted on the path of evolution of our endemic plants and animals, species that evolved in a highly unusual environment, being one almost completely void of mammals. 

Natural resources were abundant when Māori first stepped ashore here. We visit many sites that are still considered to be highly significant sites today.

At our reserve at Pukekura, we have access to the largest penguin colony on the Otago Peninsula. Here too, we often see a multitude of different species that bred here over spring/summer.

While we arrive too late in the day for us to visit the nesting site of the albatross, our arrival in the late evening is still often an excellent time to see albatross flying overhead.

Apart from our winter months (June-September), we almost always see albatross flying at this site.

Our guides will led you to cliff face viewing locations to increase your chances of seeing albatross flying overhead.

Often from here we see other seabird species

A breeding location exists here for New Zealand fur seals, these animals can be seen most of the year.

From here it's into the nearby royal albatross centre to begin our Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience. 

BLUE PENGUINS PUKEKURA EXPERIENCE TOUR INFORMATION

In the albatross centre, this part of the tour is where you learn about the penguins and gain an understand the significance of the site to Māori.

Then a short walk to our reserve. This small beach (Takiharuru) has a population of over 250 breeding pairs of kororā/little penguins. It is now the largest penguin colony on the Otago Peninsula.

Penguin arrival time does vary from night to night, and we highly recommend our guests come prepared by wearing extra layers of clothing. It often gets cold when the sun goes down.

We can't stress this enough, for your enjoyment, wearing extra layers of clothes will go a long way to making this one of your most memorable experiences. 

Viewing of the Little Blue Penguins is guaranteed, and this is an attraction and an experience not to be missed when visiting Dunedin, NZ's wildlife capital.

WE GUARANTEE PENGUINS AND WILL OFFER PART REFUNDS* ON ANY NIGHT WHERE WE SEE LESS THAN 5 BIRDS

In January and February 2026 we will likely see 30-100 penguins each night!

In the non-breeding months (March to August) we expect between 10 - 80 penguins each night.

*We see penguins on 99% of nights. For our Otago Peninsula In-Depth Tour we will offer a 100% refund in the unusual event of us not seeing any Blue Penguins on this tour (DIRECT bookings only). We will offer a 50% refund of this tour if we see less than 5 Blue Penguins (DIRECT bookings only).

We can not honour full refunds for any third-party bookings such as travel agents that make a booking on their clients behalf.

Click here for our cancellation policy

After the Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience Tour is completed your driver will take you back to your central city accommodation.

Important Notes:  

• A low level of fitness is required for this tour, but we do walk on some uneven ground and our walk down to the penguin viewing platform is a walk of around 150m and there are around 60 in-built steps to climb up and down (Click here to see the walking access: Access to Viewing Platform — Blue Penguins Pukekura). 

• No meals are provided on this tour. We suggest visitors eat before the start of the tour or bring a few snacks. The tour length is approximately 5 hours.

• Because of the tour length and content, this tour is not suitable for children under 6 years. Vehicles do not carry small child restraints and this tour is not the right tour to pick for very young children.

• We reserve the right to cancel bookings if children are less than 6 years of age.

• While our vans are limited to 12 persons we do join others on the Blue Penguins Pukekura Experience part of our tour.

• Yes!! There are opportunities to use bathroom/toilets along the way during this tour. 

• The tour includes viewing of a range of wildlife species, some species are more regularly seen that others and abundance does vary with seasons:

• 99% of tours see Blue Penguins (and extremely close to us, regularly less than 1-2 metres away).

• Sightings of royal albatross (flying overhead) almost always occur between the months of October to May. We don’t see the nesting location of this species.

• Sightings of New Zealand fur seals occur very regularly for much of the year.

• Sightings of New Zealand Sea Lions are less common but are often seen on the beach at our reserve (10-50m away) over spring/summer.

We pick-up from the following hotels in Dunedin: Fable Hotel, Distinction Hotel and Scenic Hotel Southern Cross (If you pick one of these as your pick-up location then You MUST be staying at that hotel).

For guests staying elsewhere in Dunedin, please use our main pick-up location outside the Dunedin visitor Centre I-SITE in the Octagon. 

While Fable Hotel, Distinction Hotel, Scenic Hotel Southern Cross, outside the I-Site in the Octagon are our only pick-up locations please note we do drop off at ALL central Dunedin Hotels/Motels at the completion of this tour. 

Student/Backpacker deals are available for this product use code Student11 as a 11% promo code discount (ID will need to be sighted at check-in).

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