Ulva's Guided Walks
4.7 12 reviews
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Ulva Island is one of those places that genuinely stops you in your tracks. Pest-free, dense podocarp forest, birdsong everywhere, and robins that'll hop right up to your boots if you disturb the soil. You can walk it yourself, but the guided experience is a different thing entirely. The guides here are encyclopedias on legs, and their connection to this place runs deep.
What comes through consistently from people who've done these tours is the guide knowledge. Not just bird identification, but geology, history, the social story of the island. One reviewer put it well: the guide seemed to have "all the birds on the payroll because they just happened to come out." That's the kind of rapport with a place that takes decades to build.
The evening kiwi spotting tour at Mamaku Point is worth knowing about too. Exclusive access, after dark, searching for Stewart Island Tokoeka. No guarantees with wild kiwi, but the setting alone is something else.
There's a Rankers deal on both tours. Use promo code RANKERS for 10% off, which helps keep us going too.
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Details
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Organisation |
Ulva's Guided WalksCommercial organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Stewart Island ▷ Halfmoon Bay |
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Operating Season And Hours |
Ulva Island Guided Walks depart 8:20am & 12:40pm daily from October to May, and 9:30am daily from July to September. Kiwi Spotting tours depart daily after sunset, with times varying seasonally (e.g., July at 7pm, January at 10pm). Both tours operate year-round, excluding June and specific public holidays. |
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Promo Code 10% Off |
Use discount code RANKERS with Ulva's Guided Walks and 10% off. |
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Directions To Coordinates |
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Directions Bluff Office Office |
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Coordinates |
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Hiking Tours
Bird Watching
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Reviews
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Ulva is not a well kept secret.
jenckes -
I have just come back from Ulva Island.
Grace Dawson -
Excellent guide, great knowledge.
CornelissenS -
Precise, lots of information and fun.
Andrea Fuchs -
Top notch knowledgeable guide (Ulva)
Elizabeth E
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The ferry journey was interesting and entertaining with a good Albatross feeding event.
The shady forest walk was well planned and informative. The guide was very knowledgeable.
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I have just come back from Ulva Island.
What an amazing place, can't believe places like this exist any more in the world. I've become a birder!! Brilliant guide (her name was Ulva as well)she was outstanding. I think she has all the birds on the payroll because they just 'happened' to come out when she came along. Beautiful day, beautiful island. Best guided walk I've been on. Ever.
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Paterson Inlet Tour with Ulva Island.
Birdwatch tour - excellent tour, insight, bird life and forest.
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Good service, very nice people in both the aeroplane and the hotel,also the Ulva Island tour was very good.
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You can do a self-guided walk around Ulva Island, but a guided walk with very knowledgeable Ulva is an excellent way to learn much more.
She identified bird calls, pointed out the flora and fauna, recounted stories and history of the island and bird sanctuary, and was a pleasure to spend time with. Highly recommended.
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This was an excellent tour with a knowledgable guide of this lurid island.
We really enjoyed it and saw all birds of the island.
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Ulva is not a well kept secret.
We walked with Peter Taite, a virtual encyclopedia of flora and fauna knowledge and a true love for Stewart Island and its Ulva Island. Personally led by him, my wife and I saw early season ordchids, heard saddlebacks, played with Stewart Island robins (they like freshly disturbed soil), and were given lessons on Ulva's trees, ferns, and of course birds. We didn't see Kiwis, but saw evidence of tracks and holes dug by them going after food. Peter took time to explain Ulva's history, both from a geological as well as from a social-political point of view. We'll go back and hopefully see and learn more. We'll only ask Peter for a tour, given his long history on Stewart Island, his veracity, and kindness.
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Paths very easy to follow and the guide very informative.
Rain forest experience in protected environment.
