stewart island ferry - stewart island experience

Our trip in either direction was enjoyable with surprisingly little swell and turbulence. We were sorry we had not realised we could have received a 20% discount by purchasing our tickets when we took the day tour with the same company to Doubtful Sound. Tickets are expensive. The complimentary coffee was appreciated. Parking at $8 was fairly expensive I thought as the other choice is to pay to be picked up.

Informative captain and staff. Ferry ran on time. Luckily it was a calm trip for us but guess that is not always the case. We stopped and were able to see the oyster dredgers working. Very interesting and great to see the wildlife

Great staff, nice facilities and we had wonderful calm weather which helped enormously. I think however that the staff would have been very helpful had it been rough.

The twin hulled ferry's sail daily between Bluff harbour and Stewart Island. Booking in advance is preferable and there is ample car parking at Bluff. One piece of luggage per person is allowed on the ferry so it's best to check before sailing just what you can take on board. The crew are friendly and very helpful. Free tea and coffee is available during the one hour crossing. If you are interested in sea birds then take your binoculars and have your camera to hand, albatross' and sooty shearwaters are everywhere.

Immaculate ferry, excellent crew, professional, excellent cafe at ferry station on Stewart Island. It was an easy ride over to Stewart Island. The crew was informative, funny and jovial. On the trip back the weather was not good. The crew dealt with the situation in an extremely professional manner. Customers were sick, but were made to feel comfortable. The Captain was a truly experienced driver that handled the situation brilliantly.

It runs bang on time in both directions which is nice! I get sea sick and their boat is so good (and the weather was good which would have helped) I didn't even feel a bit sick! They are so efficient at everything and everything ran smoothly. Boats are tidy, well laid out and easy to move around. A reasonably cheap option to get to the idland (and using this service will get you 20% off for some activities booked at the red shed (a booking facility on the island). Trip was just under an hour both directions.

When we crossed over to the Island it was blowing a gale but this did not seem to worry the crew, they still kept up their commentary about the local area and the wildlife.This is a very slick and efficient service. Leave your car in the secure car park (NZ$8 a day), load your luggage into the baggage bins, sit back and enjoy the ride. It seems to run on schedule no matter what the weather. It does pay to book your crossing, however, since the boats can get very full.

We had good weather with calm seas on our trips to & from Stewart Island. The trip gives a good view of scenery and wildlife - we even saw some little blue penguins. Checking in our luggage was easy and it was unloaded quickly when we arrived. We thought that the return price of $130 per person was fair.

If you're lucky, they'll stop by the shark divers and you might see a shark for the price of your fairy ticket. It can be rough out there on the seas.

we had a very smooth ride there and back . we heard it can get rough but we were lucky. there were a lot of birds to be seen along the way if you don't mind standing the whole way

A must do if you get to bluff. Just an hour ferry crossing and you are at Stewart Island . Was a smooth trip with commentary of the surrounding area wildlife etc over the period of the journey. At $130 per adult return it is abit costly compared to other ferry crossings that we have done but well worth it. If you are heading there make sure to stay a day or two. South sea Hotel is a good place to stay and very central.

Title says it all!We had 2 trips across Fouveaux Strait. First was very rough with a high sea. Albatross and mutton birds accompanied the boat swooping and skimming across the waves. We sat at the back as was suggested by a helpful crew member. A few poor fellow passengers were feeling seedy and were efficiently assisted by the 2 crew on board. Donald was one of the crew and we met him later on Ulva Island as a tour guide!Our return trip 3 days later was comparatively calm. Sailings on time and efficient.

Leaving the wharf at Oban on a morning too misty for flying, the authorities amicably exchanged my ticket to the ferry and the bus from Bluff to Invercargill airport. The ferry had a bathroom, coffee bar and adequate heat. I met an interesting boy from Ireland and, before I knew it, we had landed at Bluff. One sees more of the coast, local farms and homes than in air ( which showed overall landforms and dense rain forests of S. I.) so I was happy to have both experiences.

It's pretty easy getting to Stewart Island on the Ferry. Efficient, casual and all laid back. And if you are lucky you might even get a quick sighting of one of the Stewart Island "Samsons". The SIS are a bunch of aging blokes who somehow seem to think a very long pony tail enhances their fading masculinity. All quite harmless and funny really

Our trip over to Stewart Island was exciting as there were gale force wind warnings in place at the time, so I was a little concerned prior to leaving. However, the trip was absolutely fine, I would liken it to going up and down on a small roller coaster, none of us were seasick. The return trip was a lot smoother, in fact it was more like being on a lake it was that calm.