Hugely enjoyable day out on a boat well run and managed to see the sights of the Otago peninsular and the highlight, the yellow eyed penguins. The weather was excellent (always a plus) and congratulations to the crew on their expertise in providing a commentary on the sights and sounds to be seen (especially on all the seabirds/albatrosses). We did... More

great way to spend a couple hours- the crew was great, very informative and the boat clean and also has restroom facilities.

I really enjoyed my 2 hour cruise and penguin visit. I wanted to do the Royal Albatross Center visit package instead but that was not available that day (end of season), but everything worked fine as I went the following day to the center and the cruise was actually as good (actually better) to see albatrosses flying, which was my... More

The second time we've done this tour and it was better than the trip a few years ago as the wind was high (40 knots maybe) and there were 4 varieties of albatross in the air and even on the water. Also, being a little later (4 March instead of February) we saw young albatross sitting waiting for food to... More

We joined the tour on 28th March where we were picked up from our motel by our tour guide Bruce - who was outstanding with his knowledge of not just of the places visited but also gave a fantastic running commentary along the way. We took the opportunity of visiting Larnach Castle before joining the boat trip and were lucky... More

We had considered going to the albatross observatory at Taiaroa Head but as we love being on the water we opted for the boat trip instead. It also meant a pick up from our Dunedin hotel rather than a 45 minute drive to the observatory which was nice on a holiday that had involved so much driving. We were really... More

We joined the tour on 21 Feb. 2013. I feel embarrassed that I forget the name of the tour guide but she was so nice and knowledgable. She told us that we were truly lucky because we could see so many albatrosses flying in the sky. The timing was just perfect when there's a fishing boat nearby where albatrosses flew... More

We took the Monarch boat from Wellers Rock, near the end of the Otago Peninsula, out to Taiaroa Heads where we met the open sea. The boat has lots of character and felt strong and safe. We were supplied,as we arrived in the boat, with warm waterproof jackets and binoculars. The skipper told us everything that was happening around us,... More

Great value day with Monarch! Began with a prompt pickup at the wharf by Bruce then off to Lenoch Castle with great dialogue about local points of interest....a knowledgable tour of the castle with opportunities to explore and take pictures...we were then taken for a fabulous boat tour of the breeding grounds for Albatross and then out to sea to... More