All South Island Tours & Excursions in 2026

It's unforgottable, feels like it's heaven as it was named originally. Can't explain in words, can't be captured in photoes or videos. Further to this the coach service was outstanding and road trip was fully filled with stunning views. Our Pure Milford coach driver "NAOKI" was excellent in providing live commentary through the way.

Excellent experience! Our guide, Andy, was brilliant from the start; welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. From the outset, Cheeky Kiwi’s communication was great. We travelled from Te Anau and on the day of pick up Cheeky Kiwi WhatsApp’d to let us know they would be ten mins late due to traffic from Queenstown. We were picked up from our accommodation and the vehicle was very comfortable with spacious leather seats and large windows to aid the views. The company faded even thought of providing squeeges and cloths even to help clear windows in case they steamed up during the drive - great forward planning! The seats all had our packed lunches on the seat when we arrived, including the various dietary arrangements annotated on luggage labels - nice attention to detail. The lunches themselves were great too. The journey to Milford Sound was smooth and informative with well timed photo stop opportunities. On arrival at Milford Sound, Andy collected the boat tickets and escorted us to the boat ensuring we all got there with zero stress. We were lucky with the weather but the boat trip was super. Informative and beautiful. The skipper and boat host were really helpful. It’s worth taking plenty of warm kit because it can be VERY chilly (if you go on deck) when you turn around to head back to port. Free tea, coffee and biscuits on the boat were great. Similarly, we had an efficient and interesting road trip back after the boat journey. I would highly recommend this company and also their guide, Andy.

We had a great experience seeing Milford Sound on this small boutique cruise. Very well organized, with helpful and friendly staff. Great commentary by the captain! We much appreciated the smaller boat and much smaller crowd which made the experience much more private and intimate! Well worth it!

Very popular trip. Lovely ride across the lake to the caves. Very well organised with knowledgeable guides giving a full presentation prior to entering the caves themselves. Magical boat ride around the caves in silence so you can really appreciate what you're experiencing. A 'must do' trip. Don't miss it

Pure Milford - great way to see the sound. The capital and crew were BY FAR the friendliest, most accommodating, and knowledgeable people I've encountered on a short cruise like this. Heck, they will even take your picture without any bother. Boat was clean, free coffee drinks (cappuccino, mocha, etc).

A must do while in Queenstown! My husband and I had the best time on this experience! A quick 10 min drive out of Queenstown, plenty of parking, and really easy to find. There is a lovely brewery/restaurant next to the river to grab a beer/bite before or after the jet boat ride. We didn't eat, but the beers were good! (The food did look good though.) Shotover was running about 10 min behind for the day, so we didn't get on the river at our schedule time, but it was within 10 min. The weather was a perfect fall day, and the sun was out, but it was still a bit chilly on the river. You will get wet, so dress for the experience. Josh, our boat captain, was awesome! He was fun, knowledgeable, and a very skilled driver. He constantly checked-in to make sure everyone was okay and having a good time. You can tell he loves what he does for a living. The views down the river and through the canyons are stunning. The only downfall of the experience is that you can't take photos or videos while the boat is moving. You really have to take it all in and be present in the moment to get the full experience, which is good. The boat gets so close to the rocks and you feel the cold, fresh water on your face -- it is awesome. I would recommend this experience to anyone who visits Queenstown and I would do it again myself.

Top notch trip! We were lucky that it rained overnight so, while it was cloudy and not too warm, the waterfalls were spectacular. A wonderful activity, one not to be missed. A couple of criticisms, however. We were warned that parking could be a problem and that was so true. However, the information about a shuttle operating every 15 mins was not true… there wasn’t one at all. Also, apparently there are several overflow parking lots which staff are supposed to manage.… but we did not see that happen.

Great way to see Milford Sound in an afternoon, particularly if longer bus rides are not your thing. One ~30-minute flight to the sound, boat cruise and one ~30-minute flight back. Breathtaking views of the Sound and mountain ranges from above, coupled with a relaxing boat cruise through the fjord. We didn’t take advantage of the food onboard (but lovely to have seats reserved for our flight group), but did partake of a glass of wine and free coffee. Our pilot, Isabel was fantastic — great flier and tour guide, and our plane was comfortable and quiet. Pick up and drop-off from Queenstown was also a breeze.