Hoteller i nærheden af Clearwater Wildlife Tours (små grupper 10max)

My wife and I were fortunate enough to travel from Canada and spend three weeks in Australia and New Zealand in Oct-Nov 2025.  Out of all the things we did during our trip, our Clearwater Wildlife Tour was one of our absolute favorite experiences!  We both work in the environmental field, are absolutely huge nature lovers, and in our free time, we are pretty serious amateur photographers.  Therefore, when we were planning our trip, having the opportunity to potentially see and photograph a Yellow-Eyed Penguin / Hoiho was at the top of our list.  We had three nights in Dunedin, and two of them were spent on tours with the hopes of seeing these beautiful birds.  We had a great tour the previous night with a lot of wildlife sightings, but we unfortunately did not see any penguins.  Therefore, Clearwater was our last shot at seeing them, and from start to finish, the tour was nothing but superb!  Our guide was excellent, and he provided us with a lot of amazing information along the way.  We saw loads of incredible wildlife even before the penguins, including New Zealand fur seals, sea lions, wading birds, a brief glimpse of a little owl, and much more.  But of course the main event was the penguins, and wow did we luck out.  The weather was a bit rainy, but the penguins did not seem to mind because we saw FIVE very active, beautiful penguins.  We got to view them walking up the grassy hills, vocalizing, interacting, and even two of them spending time in and around their nest.  It was nothing short of incredible.  Clearwater has a designated sitting area on the hill adjacent to the penguins' nesting area, with benches and a perfect view.  We sat and talked about the penguins for over an hour, coming away with many wonderful photographs.  Our guide was very generous and let us spend a little extra time with the penguins because they were putting on such a show, which was greatly appreciated.  And I honestly think he would have let us stay a bit longer even, but it was getting dark and the rain was picking up, so we had to make sure we could get back to the bus safely.  Everyone was all smiles as we got back in the van, and my wife and I excitedly showed one another our best photos as we drove back to our starting point.  We cannot thank the Clearwater team enough for an amazing tour and unforgettable encounter.  One of the coolest parts of the whole experience was how "undetectable" we were for most of the tour.  There are various viewing hides where we watched the penguins ascend the hills, shielded from view so as not to disturb them.  And then when we sat at the top of the hill, we were in the open, but in the perfect spot.  Close enough to still get great views and photos, but far enough away so as not to disturb the penguins.  The whole set up is very well thought through and executed, and the Clearwater family and team has clearly put the well-being of the birds first.  We absolutely applaud them! If I had to provide any critiques, I only have two.  The first is just the cost, which is a bit high.  But with that being said, obviously if you see penguins, it is without a doubt worth it.  And based on what our guide told us, and also what we saw ourselves on the tour, one or more penguins are seen pretty much on a nightly basis! (This was not the case with our other tour).  Plus, we know the money is going to the super important cause of protecting these beautiful penguins and making sure that the remaining population can survive, and hopefully grow, in years to come.  This makes it a lot easier to justify spending the money.  And my second small critique would just be the pace of the tour.  Overall, I thought it was actually quite well done.  However, the slightly disappointing part was when we arrived at the private beach where the penguins were viewed.  There was a safety discussion at the top of the cliff overlooking the beach, both for the safety of guests and the animals, which we very much appreciated because we absolutely agree that the health of the animals is the top priority.  But the unfortunate part was that, as we were listening to the safety talk, we could see a penguin way below us just starting to come up from the surf.  We watched from a great distance as it waddled its way across the sand, more or less a speck on the beach.  After the safety talk was done and we were back in the vehicle heading down to the beach, a second penguin also made its way up the beach.  By the time we walked out onto the sand ourselves, the birds had already started to make their way up the grassy hills.  We completely understand that animals are unpredictable, and you never know when they will come ashore, but it would have been really amazing to have been down on the beach to see them come out of the ocean and waddle across the sand.  And that is not me saying we should have skipped or rushed the safety talk by any means.  I just think it would have been nice if we had either gotten to the beach a little earlier since there was the possibility that the penguins could come ashore as early as they did (we would have been happy to spend a little less time elsewhere for more potential time with the penguins), or if we maybe could have done the safety talk in the car, rather than taking the time to get out of the vehicle at the top of the cliff, talk for 15 minutes, and then get back in to make our way down to the beach.  Just to be totally honest, I feel as though we would have absorbed more if the talk had been done while driving in the vehicle while not much was happening, versus trying to listen and not focus on the penguin walking along the beach in the middle of the talk.  But with that being said, I have no doubt there are reasons the talk is done at the top of the cliff.  And we still got incredible views of the penguins as I mentioned earlier! Thank you so much for the amazing tour.  Whenever we have the chance to come back to New Zealand, we will absolutely be booking another Clearwater Wildlife Tour, and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone.  It was the experience of a lifetime, and it is something we will never forget!  We wish you all the best for many years to come!!

Wow! What a fantastic experience! From the pickup to the drop off this was much more than I had hoped it would be. The Tour Guide, Ashley, deserves a special mention here, as her educated and passionate involvement with the wildlife and ecosystem provided a narration that literally felt like I was listening to David Attenborough! The physical terrain, and the primal power that it presents is incredible, and the opportunity to see the many Seals, Penguins and varied Birdlife in such a protected environment is spiritually uplifting, and true ‘Food For The Soul’….👍 I highly recommend this tour to anyone who wants to experience a side of Dunedin that’s surprisingly close to the city, but literally light years away…..👏👏

Ashley was great! Very knowledgeable. We were thrilled to see all the wildlife we did and learn all that we did. The scenery was gorgeous and it was a relief to have some one else drive that windy narrow road!

The farm and beach itself is beautiful and it was great seeing the penguins and sea lions upclose through the provided binoculars. It was windy at the top but got better down at the beach itself. The guide Ben was clearly very knowledgeable and offered decent insights in the science and history of animals in the Otago Region across the entire tour. With that said, I did feel he prioritised engaging with some other tourists over myself. He engaged with a select few of the others while several of my own questions were ignored or went unaddressed. Maybe it was because I spoke abit softer, but I didnt have that issue with other group tours I attended in general. I will have to deduct a point for that, but just some constructive criticism since I feel every attendee should feel included when signing up for such small group tours!

The best wildlife tour I’ve ever been on - knowledgeable guide, magical viewing of wildlife, a must for anyone travelling in NZ!

Picked up on time by our guides who were really enthusiastic and knowledgeable throughout the afternoon really made the experience. On the drive to our first stop we had some entertaining knowledge about Dunedin, once out of the city our guide talked about some of animals, birds and mammals we may see on the trip. And i think we saw everything we were told we may see. Lots of Birds life, seals, sea lions and to top it all 3 yellow-eyed penguins. Throughout this unique trip our guides were so professional. Worth every penny, i would definitely recommend and i would love the return someday.

Loved our tour with Kelly! She was a wealth of knowledge and information for the entire tour. Saw lots of wildlife--birds, sea lions, seals, and one lone molting yellow eyed penguin which was a highlight. Got to walk on the beach at a safe distance near many sea lions to see the penguin. Price and small group were well worth it. Right on time with pick up and drop off. Offered snacks were a nice plus too. Length of tour was just perfect but it sounded like Kelly would've extended the tour a little if we didn't need to get back to our cruise ship on time. Would highly recommend this tour--totally enjoyable and interesting!

One of the best and highly recommended experience for wildlife lovers. The highlight of the trip was watching yellow eyed penguins, we were lucky and saw 3 of them. It was a great outing, thanks to Adrian.

Our guide Adrian was fantastic. He gave us additional time on the Peninsula, provided informative and interesting information.

All our expectations were surpasses on this tour. We experienced some incredible wildlife (many birds, fur seals, sea lions and yellow-eyed penguins). What really made the tour though was our guide Kelly, she is so knowledgable and can feel her passion for the amazing wildlife. She also took us through the interesting history of Dunedin and New Zealand, we couldn’t have hoped for a better guide. Would 100% recommend.