Otago Peninsula Tour: Explore Unique Ecosystems and the Blue Penguins Pukekura

Embark on an Otago Peninsula tour and explore unique ecosystems, encounter diverse wildlife, and witness the enchanting Blue Penguins Pukekura. Join our renowned wildlife ranger for an unforgettable experience!

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Dunedin - For those joining us from Dunedin we pass by some of the most famous buildings in the city before heading out onto the Otago Peninsula. This 30 minutes does include pick-up times. This part of the journey isn’t available for those joining our bus from the Larnach Castle pick-up because the Castle is situated out on the Otago Peninsula.
What's Included
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • All fees and/or taxes
Additional Information

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 join this tour. A tour designed by the Otago Peninsula’s longest serving wildlife ranger. We see a variety of wildlife species along the way (Note: seasonal). At Pukekura we have a good chance to see seals…

Location
Dunedin
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(93 Ratings)
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Ava_f
Jan 14, 2025
Highly Reccommend! - Great tour with a good combination of history, culture, geography, etc., and ended with an awesome view of the penguins coming home. Guides were very kind and knowledgeable 10/10!
Review provided by Viator
Richard_o
Jan 13, 2025
See the Penguins! - The driver was great, the guides were so knowledgeable and interesting, the experience of watching the little penguins come ashore and waddle to their burrows was great! We would recommend this to our friends and family.
Review provided by Viator
Tobias_g
Jan 10, 2025
Exceeded my expectation... - Exceeded my expectation by far, the guides are so nice and we saw lots of cute blue penguins in the night :)
Review provided by Viator
Lynn_a
Jan 10, 2025
Magical - The penguins were just about the cutest things in the world and by themselves made it worthwhile. But the experience wasn’t just about the penguins - we saw numerous other sea birds, baby gulls, sea lions, and a magnificent albatross. All this was accompanied by a lot of interesting history and other information. A great tour!
Review provided by Viator
Julie_e
Dec 31, 2024
Fantastic experience! - An absolute must if you’re in Dunedin! Beautiful scenery on the drive accompanied by knowledgeable, welcoming, and enthusiastic guides. We saw everything we expected and much more. The penguin viewing was nothing less than magical - over 130 penguins total and a number of chicks too. Be sure to dress warm as you won’t want to leave the viewing platform!
Review provided by Viator
Kateykate12
Dec 24, 2024
Amazing experience for penguins and other birds - This trip was brilliant. We were picked up in Dunedin and went on a tour of the Otago Peninsula to look at the local birdlife, particularly the wading/water birds. The guide was knowledgeable and gave us interesting information about the birds that we were seeing. On arrival at Pukekura we saw albatross flying as well as the many seagulls. Then we had the penguin experience, started with a short talk about the penguins and the history of New Zealand which was really interesting, followed by the viewing at dusk of the groups of penguins coming in from the beach and up past the platform that we were viewing from. There were plenty of penguins and plenty of opportunity to see them both on the beach and in the dunes as they made their way back to their nests. They allowed us to take photographs provided the flash was switched off so have some fantastic photographic memories of the experience. I would highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
J5116zdlouiseb
Dec 19, 2024
An absolute MUST DO in New Zealand! - Just when I thought New Zealand had shared all its treasures, I spent the evening with the most wonderful little creatures I have ever seen and it was the most special evening of my holiday 🥰 After an informative drive to the peninsula from Dunedin with our lovely guide, James, we had an excellent talk by another one of the trustees, about the history of the region and fascinating facts about these unique creatures. Then down to the beach for a special evening of watching them scurrying up the beach in small groups (for protection), scrambling across the rocks to their burrows, with lots of chirping, which was adorable. This tour is run by the charitable trust that is working to protect these special penguins, so by taking their tour, you are directly contributing to their vital work. I can’t recommend this tour highly enough. If you are even just thinking about visiting the South Island, Dunedin or even New Zealand, seeing these wonderful creatures is reason enough on it’s own!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kathryn_b
Dec 16, 2024
The smallest Penguins. - The trip to see the Blue Penguins was a delight. We were picked up at the Octogan and took the inland route up the Peninsular. James gave us the very interesting history of the area and stopped to look at birds and views. It’s was a wonderful, well organised and informative trip. Loved the penguins.
Review provided by Viator
Katyb845
Dec 15, 2024
The cute Blue Penguins. - James was so knowledgeable about the history of the peninsular and stopped to point out birds and views The trip was well organised and fun. Just a fantastic evening with James and Danni. Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joc_g
Jan 9, 2025
Blue penguins - Jonathan was great and had a lot of information. Great to see the blue penguins and see some Albatrosses flying.
Review provided by Viator
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