Siberia Experience
Fly-Walk-Jetboat
4.5 13 reviews
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Three activities in one day, deep in the Mount Aspiring National Park. The plane gets you into the Siberia Valley in 25 minutes, the unguided walk through the Wilkin Valley takes a couple of hours, and the jet boat hauls you back to Makarora to finish. It's a genuinely remote stretch of New Zealand that most people never get to, and the combination of all three modes of travel is what makes it work.
The price sits around the $300 mark per person, which reviewers consistently flag as not cheap. Use promo code RANKERS to save 10% off that, which helps. Most people feel it's worth it once they're out there, though a few note it goes fast and they wished for a little more time in the valley. My pick would be to bring a proper lunch and eat it at the river before the jet boat arrives, not on the fly during the ride.
A couple of practical things worth knowing. Bug repellent is genuinely useful, especially near the river. The walk is unguided so you're on your own once the pilot drops you off, which is actually a good thing. And if you're planning to also do a Milford Sound flight around the same time, space them out a bit. A few travellers mentioned doing both in quick succession and feeling a little landscape-saturated by the second one.
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Siberia Experience
4 hours of unique New Zealand wilderness adventure in Mt Aspiring World Heritage National Park. The original & still the best!
SCENIC PLANE FLIGHT – 25 mins of stunning views in a Southern Alps Air Cessna aeroplane, capturing the rugged beauty of New Zealand’s World Heritage National Park. See glaciers, ice, snow, mountain lakes, hanging valleys, vast rain forests, dramatic unspoiled beauty.
BUSH & VALLEY WALK – Land in the Siberia Valley to begin a 3 hr walk through native beech forest & river valleys on a well marked track linking the remote Siberia Valley with the wilderness of the Wilkin Valley
JETBOAT SAFARI – Rendezvous at the Wilkin River for a thrilling and uniquely scenic 30 min trip back to Makarora
Details
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Organisation |
Siberia Experience Fly-Walk-JetboatCommercial organisation |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Wanaka Region ▷ Makarora |
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Business Times |
The experience lasts 4 hours. Check-in is required 30 minutes prior to departure. Please call on the morning of your trip for a weather check. |
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Promo Code Save 10% |
Use discount code RANKERS with Siberia Experience and save 10%. |
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Jet Boating
Scenic Flights
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Reviews
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Great experience, was recommended by a friend.
Amanda -
We had a great time doing this activity.
Steve Sayers -
Can recommend this - it was excellent.
Charles Price -
Great value for money, a real mini adventure.
hairymango -
Dont do the Siberia Exp.
Rolf X
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This is an amazing way to get to be amongst the New Zealand wilderness.
Myself and 4 friends did this experience and we think it is the best activity we have found. It is great value for money, $270 per person for a 25 minute flight, 3 hour walk and 30 minute jetboat ride The yellow aeroplane we travelled in allowed us to see everything as we all had window seats. We saw glaciers, mountain lakes, braided rivers and lush native bush all set amongst the Southern Alps in Mt Aspiring National Park. The flight took around 25 minutes so we saw a lot of fantastic scenery. We then landed in the Siberia Valley which is in the middle of nowhere!! We hopped out of the plane and felt dwarfed by the mountains towering around us on all sides. It was an amazing experience. The pilot then gave us a talk about the walk out, set us off in the right direction and off we went. He was really good at his job. The walk was great, we enjoyed the cute little waterfalls tumbling down toward the track and the spectacular views from different vantage points. It took us about 2.5 hours and we managed to see quite a few native birds on the way. We reached the Wilkin Valley which is also a very beautiful area. The jetboat was waiting for us at the river and whisked us back to Makarora on the amazingly clear, clean water to where we started from. This took about 30 minutes. The whole tour took us 4 hours and I would recommend it to anyone visiting New Zealand. We stayed in Wanaka and drove the 45minutes to Makarora to catch the tour.
The pilots and reservations staff were excellent, very professional but welcoming and fun. We also did a Milford Sound Flight and Cruise with the company (Southern Alps Air) who operates the Siberia Experience and is the operator of the flight portion of this fantastic Experience. We enjoyed a great coffee on the deck at the Makarora Wilderness Resort after we got back while we showed off our photos to each other and talked about what a great time we had. I will do this again on my next trip.
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Being able to incorporate the three experiences is a great way to really see the region as well as being useful if you don't have too long in NZ.
Especially good combination of activities. Nice pilot.
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The whole experience was great.
Very friendly staff, the pilot was very nice, the walk was lovely & the boat ride was a wonderful end to the day.
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Very beautiful and exciting view over the mountain and fun and exciting ride with the jet boat.
Great for our kids at 8 and 14 years.
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Great experience, was recommended by a friend.
Great customer service, friendly staff. Pilot (Nick) was great and looked after us.
Exciting plane ride around valley, stunning views. Beautiful walk then jet boat back. Great day out.
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Dont do the Siberia Exp.
and the milford sound flight just days after each other. we were probably too full of impressions from the milford sound flight. the flight is nice and thehike pretty. but we would say do a 1day reuteburn and milford sound instead.
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We had a great time doing this activity.
Unfortunately the flight was over before we knew it, mainly because of the beautiful scenery being viewed outside. The Siberia valley we landed in was breathtaking, so pristine we were expecting a dinosaur to come out from the undergrowth any minute. The walk back was spectacular with many things to see. The Wilkin Valley is also beautiful where you meet the jetboat, unfortunately i only had time to grap a few mouthfuls of lunch before being flung around in the jetboat, which was great. TIP have lunch when you get back to base, you will enjoy the trip better. Hopefully for others it will not get much more expensive than the NZD$310 each which we paid, which is a bit pricey for a plane ride and jet boat. Overall the whole experience was brilliant and something i will allways treasure.
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Light aircraft flight to the Siberia Valley then walk down Wilkin river and pick up by jet boat.
A great way of experiencing the wilderness.
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The plane ride is scenic with a very capable pilot, but the 30 minutes goes fast.
The hike was nice, but we had been fortunate to do nicer ones. The jet boat ride is thrilling. This was a splurge for us, and perhaps I was hoping for just a little more. All in all, if $310NZ justifies what I experienced, it' a day well spent. Remember to bring bug dope and lunch, as you'll probably have a 20 - 30 minute wait for the jet boat.
