Bay Tours invite you to discover the primordial majesty of Fiordland’s iconic Dusky & Doubtful Sounds on an unforgettable 6-day exploration cruise in August 2025. Limited to just 18 participants, this cruise will make for a unique encounter with our natural world. Only accessible by sea, Dusky & Doubtful Sounds are among the most isolated areas on New Zealand’s mainland, ensuring their pristine, epic beauty remains unspoiled and their historic sites undisturbed. Waterfalls, streams, rivers and fiords are enveloped with misty veils that come and go, revealing steep gradients of mountain peaks and sheltered valleys. Wildlife including unique pods of Bottlenose Dolphins, Fiordland Crested Penguins and New Zealand Fur Seals abound. Discover the calm waters of Fiordland in solitude and explore some of its most unique and wild parts on this bucket list voyage aboard the 30 metre, 4 deck, New Zealand built luxury launch Heritage Explorer. With daily opportunities to board the launch’s smaller tender boats to explore the shore on foot, this is far more than just a cruise with scenery to be admired from afar. This is close-up!
Day 1: Hawke’s Bay to Te Anau After you’re collected from home, we all meet at Hawke’s Bay Airport and board our mid-morning flight to Queenstown, arriving early afternoon. We then transfer to Te Anau and our hotel for the night in anticipation of the start of our adventure tomorrow.
Day 2: Te Anau/Dusky Sound Setting out from Te Anau, we enjoy the grand views and awe-inspiring scenery on a spectacular helicopter transfer to Supper Cove at the head of Dusky Sound. The Captain, Expedition Leader and the rest of the crew will be waiting to welcome you aboard the luxury launch Heritage Explorer and show you to your cabin. Settle into life aboard before we set sail along the scenic waterways of Dusky Sound, finding a suitable anchorage to enjoy your first evening aboard.
Days 3 & 4: Dusky Sound We have two days to explore Dusky Sound, Fiordland’s largest. Here we have the opportunity to visit Luncheon Cove on Anchor Island, where the first European boat was built in New Zealand. Take a short walk or explore along the coastline and be amazed by the birdlife, with South Island Saddleback, Robins, Yellowhead and Parakeets in abundance on the island thanks to its predator free status. It was on nearby Pigeon Island pioneering conservationist Richard Henry was based during his time in Dusky Sound. At Astronomers Point there may be the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Captain Cook and his astronomer, William Wales. It was here that Cook’s ship, Resolution, was moored during their time in Dusky Sound. Our cruise through this enchanting sound visits some of New Zealand’s most significant historic and conservation sites, as well as offering an exploration of some of the country’s most majestic scenery as we sail deep into the heart of Fiordland. Be sure to be on the lookout for some of the abundant marine life that occurs here including New Zealand Fur Seals and Bottlenose Dolphins.
Day 5: Acheron Passage & Breaksea Sound At the northern side of Dusky Sound we enter Acheron Passage. Separated from the mainland by this scenic waterway we find Resolution Island – one of the world’s first conservation sanctuaries and the largest island in Fiordland. Our time here may include venturing into Wet Jacket Arm where the crew of Cook’s Resolution ended up with wet jackets during their survey work. It is also the site where Moose were released, and last seen, in New Zealand. During the afternoon we explore the waters of Breaksea Sound where you might like to join the chef fishing for tonight’s dinner or take the kayaks for a shoreline exploration.
Day 6: Breaksea & Doubtful Sounds After a quiet night aboard surrounded by the nature and wilderness of Breaksea Sound, join your naturalists on deck to spot seabirds including the majestic Wandering and Buller’s Albatross as we pass Breaksea Island, which guards the entrance to Breaksea Sound. It was on Breaksea Island that the first successful island rat eradication program was completed. Today it is a protected nature reserve of great significance to the many endangered species which call the island home. From here we sail onwards towards some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Fiordland – Doubtful Sound, or the sound of silence as it’s also known. Spanning some staggering 40-kilometres and holding the title as New Zealand’s deepest fiord, Doubtful Sound with its cloud-scraping wilderness cloaked mountains, sheer cliffs, waterfalls, inlets, quiet coves and wildlife presents nature on a scale so grand it’s off the chart. Tonight, we enjoy a cruise farewell dinner.
Day 7: Doubtful Sound/Te Anau/Queenstown Enjoy a farewell breakfast on board Heritage Explorer, among the grandeur of Fiordland, before farewelling our Captain & crew and travelling over the Wilmot Pass and across Lake Manapouri back to Te Anau. A relaxed afternoon transfer back to Queenstown will see us arrive at the Heritage Hotel on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Tonight, we enjoy a tour farewell dinner with a last chance to compare experiences and memories of the last week.
Day 8: Queenstown to Hawke’s Bay A gentle start to the day sees us arrive at Queenstown Airport late morning before beginning our flight homeward arriving back in the Bay late in the afternoon.
We have limited Single, Twin Share and Double cabins available, so find a buddy and book for one of the most amazing experiences ever. But don’t delay, our 2022 & 2023 dates for this cruise sold out very quickly.