Ulva Island Explorer: Stewart Island Guided Experience

The Ulva Island Explorer is a two-hour 10-minute guided experience departing from the Stewart Island Visitor Terminal. A scenic cruise across Paterson Inlet is followed by a 45-minute guided walk through Ulva Island’s predator-free wildlife sanctuary, with a small group and knowledgeable nature guide. Easy walking tracks make the experience suitable for most ages and fitness levels, including children aged 4–15 and infants under four.

Discover Ulva Island’s Native Forest and Birdlife

Cruise across the sheltered waters of Paterson Inlet while your nature guide introduces the landscapes and wildlife of Rakiura Stewart Island. The short boat journey leads to Ulva Island, an uninhabited 269-hectare sanctuary forming part of Rakiura National Park. Its protected environment and successful conservation programmes have created one of New Zealand’s most rewarding places to encounter native birds.

Follow well-maintained tracks beneath towering rimu and southern rātā while listening for kākā, kākāriki, tūī, bellbirds, saddlebacks, yellowheads, Stewart Island robins and riflemen. Your guide explains the forest ecosystem, conservation work and reintroduction of threatened species while helping the group identify birds by sight and sound. Rakiura tokoeka have occasionally been seen during daylight, although kiwi and other wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed.