Options

Cancellation Policy

Reviews

• It was fantastic!

  Venture47789262092,2026年6月11日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We live only an hour from Dunedin but had never done the Monarch cruise. It was fantastic! It was amazing to see the albatross chicks from the boat - we actually saw more than we had seen from land - and the adult albatross in flight and on the water. The commentary was very informative and the crew were super friendly and helpful. I suggest taking a bottle of ginger beer or ginger ale with you, in case of sea sickness.

• Highly recommended knowledgeable tour

  SphereHopper,2026年6月4日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  A fantastic trip with skippers Nigel and Dan. We opted for the Dunedin departure as their dock was right opposite our accomodation. It's about 90 mins out to the main viewing areas, but Nigel still provided a commentary for just the two of us on a wet autumn day on the boat until we picked up others at the other meeting point. We saw a great range of wildlife we just don't see in Europe and the information we were given by Nigel & Dan was very informative. Highly recommended!

• Beautiful day on the water

  jennymC2305PL,2026年5月23日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Great guides and the boat was comfortable and well-equipped. Fantastic dolphins up close and albatrosses flying around with good information about them

• Saw the promised wildlife, some quite close up. Awesome albatrosses.

  Grammaticus3,2026年5月10日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Very professional. Informative commentary. Met all expectations.

• Kiwi holiday

  1k2l3s4,2026年5月5日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Fantastic, informative, fun educational, and such a great tour . We would recommend them to everyone

• Thank you Monarch Wildlife Cruises

  LucieAnn805,2026年4月17日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  We booked a Monarch cruise from Weller’s Rock during the Wild Dunedin festival. The commentary throughout from Buddy the captain was outstanding - very informative with humour added in. It was a beautiful calm April morning, no albatross flying due to light winds, however we saw several albatross chicks on Tairoa Head, plus fur seals, terns, cormorants and petrels. A highly recommended cruise.

• A recommended way to see Otago seabirds

  Greenfielder,2026年3月31日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  This trip was one of the highlights of an extended New Zealand holiday, booked as part of a Triple Combo with the Albatross Centre and The OPERA - I got off the boat exhilarated! Credit must first of all go to the Captain who started the fun by welcoming us by name (we were the last arrivals!). I was sat right at the stern, one of the few places still left as we were last, in what seemed a most unpromising position but turned out to be brilliant. The Captain gave the commentary which I could hear clearly, contained some dry humour but was also VERY informative. The other aspect I really appreciated was the way he manoeuvred the boat to ensure all on board were able to share the same experiences. We didn't see any penguins (nor did we really expect to), nor did any dolphins or whales come to join us. However, the range of sea birds was terrific with three types of albatross, petrels, shearwaters and even terns, along with more familiar gulls and shags. Many of the albatrosses were floating on the water and weren't troubled by the boat going close so a good photo was possible with a phone camera. We were fortunate our trip was in lovely weather with quite calm waters and there was a lot of bird activity. We can see how it could not always be like this but these factors are outside the control of the operator.

  

  

  

  

• Ask best time of day to view before booking

  694starn,2026年3月29日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  4.00

  We took the 1 hour 1:30 wildlife boat tour. Boat was clean and right on time. A restroom on board was nice to know about. The brightness of the sunny day made some land sightings difficult b/c of glare. We saw a few Albatross flying, a small band of bottle nose dolphins for just a minute, a couple seals on the rocks, and if you looked at the perfect spot at the perfect time a blue penguin on the water. The only deal was we saw all those except the dolphins during the same day on hikes. We had a full boat but there was room to move around. The staff was pleasant, helpful with viewing, and they had binoculars & heavy jackets for any that wanted to use them. The open waters out of the cove was very rough at times. Very rough. We, thankfully, had no sea sick people problems.

  

  

• Captain is a blast!

  A6704BOpatrickm,2026年3月22日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  Great time! Captain was funny and informative, we had the best Royal Albatross viewing, feeding chicks, soaring over lighthouse, taking off from the water. Lucky day, weather was great. Seals, shags were in evidence, but this day no dolphins or penguins.

• For wildlife lovers with sea legs

  thetartanpassport,2026年3月21日

  - Review from Tripadvisor

  5.00

  If you’re someone who typically gets sea sick I would definitely sit this one out, the waves were unbelievably choppy but my partner and I were loving it. We were so impressed by the skill of the captain, we felt so safe on the boat. The tour is great and we loved getting to see the albatross up close. Would definitely recommend for any wildlife lovers who have their sea legs.

  
• Load more reviews