No trip to the South Island is complete without visiting the breathtakingly beautiful Milford Sound. The fiord itself extends 16 km inland from the Tasman Sea, with sheer granite cliffs extending up to 1700m above sea level. Like all the fiords and valleys in the Fiordland National Park, Milford was carved by five different glacier actions during the last great ice age 75,000 to 14,000 years ago. Some glaciers still remain, with the large blue cracking ice-falls providing a stark contrast to the rainforests below.

With between seven and eight meters of rainfall per year, Milford Sound is the wettest place in New Zealand. The lush rainforests cling to the cliff faces while seals, and the occasional pod of dolphins and penguin swim the waters below.

You’ll depart Queenstown Airport with a guaranteed window seat, soaring across three mountain ranges. Enroute you’ll see magnificent alpine valleys, lakes and glaciers scattered across Fiordland National Park – New Zealand’s largest National Park.

After arriving overhead Milford Sound, we will descend into the fiord to give you a close up of the features that make up this unique landscape before landing at Milford Sound Airport. Your pilot will escort you to the boat terminal to join our cruise boat partners, Pure Milford, to enjoy a 1 hour 45 min cruise. Your journey will take you out to the Tasman Sea where you’ll encounter some of the wildlife that makes up this region. Expect to see seals and occasionally dolphins and penguins as you pass close to magnificent waterfalls and sheer granite cliffs, while your skipper provides you with a detailed and entertaining commentary of the region and its history.