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Marlborough Wildlife Tour: Explore Motuara Island & Dolphins
4.6
112 Ratings
Picton
Join a guided tour to Motuara Island and Queen Charlotte Sound. Spot rare wildlife, including dolphins and sea birds, led by expert Marine Biologists.
Join a guided tour to Motuara Island and Queen Charlotte Sound. Spot rare wildlife, including dolphins and sea birds, led by expert Marine Biologists.
Duration:
4 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- E-Ko Tours - Enjoy FREE Wifi and FREE Photos for all customers. Visit our Wildlife Display and take in the BEST view of Picton harbour from our balcony.
- Marlborough Sounds - Embark on a 4-hour cruise through the stunning Marlborough Sounds. Encounter wildlife such as NZ Fur Seals, Dolphins, and Sea Birds. Let our expert guide lead you through the Motuara Bird Sanctuary.
- E-Ko Tours - Enjoy FREE Wifi and FREE Photos for all customers. Visit our Wildlife Display and take in the BEST view of Picton harbour from our balcony.
- Marlborough Sounds - Embark on a 4-hour cruise through the stunning Marlborough Sounds. Encounter wildlife such as NZ Fur Seals, Dolphins, and Sea Birds. Let our expert guide lead you through the Motuara Bird Sanctuary.
What's Included
- National Park fees
- Professional guide
- Beverages and snacks
- FREE Binoculars to help you spot wildlife and Species ID cards
- Live commentary on board
- Complimentary Local Wine and Mussel Samples of the PM Tour
- Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits on the return journey
- National Park fees
- Professional guide
- Beverages and snacks
- FREE Binoculars to help you spot wildlife and Species ID cards
- Live commentary on board
- Complimentary Local Wine and Mussel Samples of the PM Tour
- Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and chocolate biscuits on the return journey
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information
The best experience in Marlborough. This tour offers an amazing, fully-guided experience wildlife. A small-group tour to view some of New Zealand’s spectacular wildlife. Visit Motuara Island and cruise the majestic Queen Charlotte sound. Water, wilderness and wildlife. You will have the opportunity to see multiple species of wildlife, including rare sea…
The best experience in Marlborough. This tour offers an amazing, fully-guided experience wildlife. A small-group tour to view some of New Zealand’s spectacular wildlife. Visit Motuara Island and cruise the majestic Queen Charlotte sound. Water, wilderness and wildlife. You will have the opportunity to see multiple species of wildlife, including rare sea birds, marine mammals and endangered land birds. Led by enthusiastic Marine Biologists, you will be given the possibility of viewing five different species of dolphins. Enjoy a fully-guided walk on Motuara Island, seeing and hearing the amazing bird life where Captain Cook planted the first flag and claimed New Zealand.
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Subject to favorable weather conditions. If canceled due to poor weather, you will be given the option of an alternative date or full refund
- Family friendly with plenty of children’s activities onboard
Location
E-Ko Tours
Wellington Street
Follow BLUE line form Visitor Information Center until you see, Seal, Dolphin and Penguin
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(112 Ratings)
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1 star
Karynwoodhouse
Nov 26, 2024
Fantastic informative tour with rare sightings. - Fantastic tour. Very friendly staff both at the office and Nikki(guide) and Dan(skipper). Great informative tour about the marine and bird life and they made it really fun. We saw King Shag, dolphins, seals, fluttering shearwater, australasian Gannets and other birds. Coffee and wine and biscuits was great too. We love that they partner to support local organisations to preserve rare species.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jaydei2023
Nov 18, 2024
Highlight of our trip to NZ so far - Hannah and Captain Paul worked really well together. Incredibly welcoming, friendly and super informative. We had awesome little cards, given binoculars and a map which really felt interactice and helped me understand what we were looking for and keep up when they spoke about what we saw on the cards. They made so much effort to ensure we got to see our birds, seals and dolphins and were very encouraging to have us look for ourselves and point out what we have found. Safety safety safety was essential and well explained to us. But also, fun fun fun. Captain Paul encouraged us to wave to the Dusky dolphins to encourage them to interact with us. The walk was lovely and Hannah stopped at leaves and birds and at a view of another island to give us information and history. But, other passengers also had the choice to stay at the burden bath and continue their bird watching or go at their own pace which i found to be a nice option - even here safety was emphasised - passengers were cointed so nobody got left behind and Hannah made sure she was last on the island. We had some hot drinks, wine and biscuits on the way back in theast stretch of our journey. There was one child on board and they were sure to keep him involved. They were super understanding that it might be overwhelming for him to be on a boat, etc., offered him colouring in and a soft toy (in a shape of a dolphin). We also love that a portion of ticket sales goes back to conserving the animals we get to see. We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks, team.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
E3632yjwendyd
Nov 5, 2024
One of our New Zealand highlights. - An absolutely brilliant afternoon, one of the main highlights of our trip to New Zealand. Will was fabulous, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable, as was Dan the skipper on the day. We saw so many different species, including the king shag, dusky dolphins, saddleback birds and Australasian gannets. Tea and biscuits on the return trip, followed by a glass of wine to celebrate our sightings was a bonus. Keep up the good work, you’re all doing a great job. Thank you.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
893sanchithak
Oct 29, 2024
Excellent - It was a amazing tour with very knowledgeable crew. They are rwally helpful , understandable.
Highly recommended.
Looking forward to move with them once again.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John_s
Oct 28, 2024
Excellent - Really well run tour. Great commentary and stories from tour guide Will and captain Paul!
Saw some local nature and learned some interesting history, thank you E-ko Tours.
Review provided by Viator
Pauline
Oct 26, 2024
Amazing memories with Echo Tours Adventures for the sole NZ - Will our tour guide is amazing and so is Paul, together they made the experience a trip to remember. They share a lot of information and they are both very passionate in their commitment to wildlife and the environment. Thank you so much and we will definitely recommend Echo Tours to everyone in Australia. Thanks so much from Paul & Pauline from Sydney Australia.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carolync619
Nov 4, 2024
Wanted to see wildlife and we did! - It was wonderful trip. Staff are fun and knowledgeable about the wildlife and the sound.if you want to see wildlife, you will.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
357chuckk
Nov 13, 2024
Not happy with the customer service of E-Ko Tours. - We booked a full day trip to two islands. The day before the tour we were told that they were waiting for additional people to book before they could confirm the second island was available. Apparently, their profit would take a hit if they only took three people.
The morning of the tour we were told that they were still waiting for additional people for the afternoon. They then took us to the first island. When they dropped us off, Nikki said there was still a chance that more people might book for the second island. This didn't happen. So instead of a full day, two island tour, we got a half day, one island tour. We paid $660 NZD for the full day trip, they only gave a $63 NZD refund for cutting our tour in half. Only 9.5%. When I complained, they quoted their terms and conditions at me, but didn't provide any increase in the amount. I get better service from my cable company! I'll never book a tour with E-Ko again.
Be aware that if you book the tour to Blumine island, there won't be a guide with you. You are dropped off on the beach by yourself, and told the boat will be back to pick you up at 11:15.
I rated them a two instead of a one, because the boat cruise portion of the tour was OK.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Scenic66157978386
Oct 28, 2024
Cancel trips same day of departure. Careful if you have short time in Picton and this is your only adecuate timing. - We booked the trip for 13:30pm and after it we received a message to move it for 8:00am, when we were not in Picton. As the morning we were going to do the trip we still didn’t know if it will be going, we went to the shop around 11am, there was no one. We went to the Isite, and they tried to call them as the only available contact was a phone number, but no body answered. Finally around 12 pm they asked whether we could change for next day and we had to ask for the refund. The girl on the shop was very nice and apologised, on the other hand the man over them was quite not nice and informed us that he would not move just a boat because of us and that we had to get used to it as anybody can cancel the tour 30min before departure. The thing is that other companies didn’t and fortunately we could do a cruise with cougar line, who didn’t let us down. It is a pity as it seemed to be a good trip but not even warning us and not letting us know in advance that our trip was cancelled is not very nice from them.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lsheridan-nz
Nov 12, 2024
HIGHLY RECOMENDED - ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING TOUR
Couldn't recomend this highly enough. The guides were superb, friendly, knowledgeable and extremely accommodating. One of the guides was the Captain himself. His commentary was as good and expert as commentaries ive heard on wildlife TV shows full of enthusiasm and knowledge. Courtenay was just the same. It's just that you really don't expect the captain to be giving commentary while concentrating on driving the boat AND looking for wildlife! Loved this so much the first time I went again. Loved this one so much I'm going one more time while here. I would put this down as a must do and if you need to stay a night in icton so you can do this tour, I would. Its worth it. Next visit I plan to do the bluemine drop off. Can't recomend this enough. Thankyou Captain Dan and Courtenay.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
