Half-Day Cruise in Marlborough Sounds from Picton
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Picton, New Zealand
- 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Enjoy a morning cruise through Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds, visiting historic Ship Cove, where Captain Cook landed in the 1770s. Disembark to see the memorial on the sheltered beach, as well as Māori wood carvings. On the return journey, cruise through Endeavour Inlet with passenger and freight drop-offs while listening to informative commentary about the marine life, cultural history, and natural features of the Marlborough Sounds.
- This morning cruise leaves your afternoon free for other activities
- Look out for native flora and fauna, including penguins and dolphins
- Disembark and explore Ship Cove—a place you can’t reach any other way
- Learn more about the Marlborough Sounds via live onboard commentary
What's Included
- Commentary on board
- Restroom on board
- Food
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Beachcomber Cruises keep cup ($6 available for purchase)
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 1 London Quay, Picton 7220, New Zealand
Please meet us at the Beachcomber Cruises Office on the waterfront - the Corner of Wellington Street and London Quay, we are a black building with Blue Signage.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.9:00 am
Itinerary
Queen Charlotte Sound (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Most travelers can participate
- Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drinks to consume on board
- Closed-toe walking shoes suitable for walking are recommended
- Not accessible for motorized wheelchairs
- We are not able to pick up / drop off at the Cruise Ship Terminal - you must make your way to our booking office
- Please note that this tour departs sharply on schedule at 9:00am
- This tour has a minimum number requirement and may be cancelled if we do not reach this capacity
- The boat used for the tour can vary from a smaller 9 seater to a 99 seater catamaran and is not guaranteed
- Not recommended for travelers with serious mobility issues or confinements
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 70 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.3
based on 154 reviews
Rudolf_W, Apr 2026
Super relaxful water tour of the Sound. You will view lush green lush foilage, and wild life on shore. We were fortunate to see many dolphins toying with our vessel and actually racing us from one drop off dock to another. Greg, our skipper, shared his vast knowledge of the surroundings and water life. Thank you! Greg and Happy Birthday again. You made this tour a wonderful interesting excursion.
Janet_M, Mar 2026
Lovely ride around the sound and a quick trip to Cook monument. We took this ride early March. It was a beautiful, sunny day but quite chilly on the water especially up top on the open deck.
John_P, Feb 2026
Take some warm clothes as it may be chilly on the water. Daryl, the driver, was very entertaining and knowledgeable.
Kathy_B, Jan 2026
A little long. Captain was informative. Left a tip for him. Rating was based on lack of variety of cruise NOT the captain.
martina_r, Nov 2025
This was extremely disappointing! We thought we had booked a sightseeing trip but it was actually a water shuttle. We picked up and dropped people off, we also had to pick up and drop off luggage. The one location we were able to get off we were told by the driver that we only had 10 minutes, that he was very busy and that he will leave if we were late. That’s not what you want to hear.
At one point there were so many people that we were unable to see out the windows properly which further backs up my point that this was a water taxi. Lastly it was sad that the company would not refund the 50% I requested which I though was fair price to ask as this price would have been closer to the cost of a water taxi. I would recommend going with another company.
Jason_Y, Nov 2025
What can be said about this "scenic cruise" that hasn't already been said about politics?
It's dull and misleading.
We went on this cruise on our last day in New Zealand expecting a scenic cruise with a stop on land to explore, turns out we were just part of a very crowded water taxi service, the skipper was more concerned about getting his jobs done than anything else, he even admitted it was more of a taxi service and blamed his boss for setting the schedule.
The 1 stop we had to "explore" was for a measly 10 minutes, by the time you got off the boat, it was time to get back on due to the amount of people onboard, but we got back to Picton half hour earlier than expected, so why we couldn't have more time on land evades me.
Everyone we spoke with on the cruise was dissatisfied with the service and a few of us approached the office afterwards to complain.
I think paying over $300 to be part of a taxi service is unreasonable, beachcomber don't believe so as refund was refused.
Seems Beachcomber are more interested in lining their pockets than providing a descent service.
Ruined our last day in NZ, so thanks for that
Anne_M, Jul 2025
A very pleasant trip, with lots of dolphin sightings. The captain stopped the boat a few times so we could observe them closely.
Susan_S, May 2025
Lovely area but boat ride was long…basically a water taxi only stopping once. Would have been nice to have a guide talk to us about indigenous culture.
Keith_I, Mar 2025
A great way to see Marlborough Sound and Ship Cove.
The boat had seats inside and outside and was skippered superbly.
Tracey_S, Mar 2025
Our crossing was delightful, perfect weather and great coffee and breakfast.
Thought it was unnecessary to get moving at 5am, arrive at 6:30 for a 8:45 departure.
We also caught an Uber who dropped us off at the station for platform 10 pickup when he could have dropped us off at the Interislander Terminal.
Regardless we enjoyed the journey.
Tana_C, Jan 2025
Disappointing. Expected more of a cruise tour versus a commuter ferry. Scenery was great but we also saw the same thing from our ship. Limited time at Captain Cook stop was very interesting.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Tana, thank you for your email. I'm sorry to hear that you did not enjoy the Ship Cove Cruise with us, but glad that you did like the stop to see the Captain Cook monument. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday.
Ed_R, Jan 2025
This tour is a day in the life of the captain of this boat. It was interesting to find out how different people went about getting their personal bags to different places without carrying them everywhere.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Ed, thanks for your review of the Ship Cove Cruise. We are happy to hear you enjoyed seeing the process of the bag pick up and drop offs to the Queen Charlotte Track :) Youll have to come back and walk it one day!
Phillip_S, Dec 2024
A lovely day on a boat up the Marlborough. We stopped off at one of the islands to have a look around. Unfortunately, with little time to experience it fully. Could have stayed at least another 15mins.
Once back on land had a look at markets, had a bite to eat and had a look in the Whale Museum, well worth a look.
Our tour guide was very informative.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Phillip, thankyou for your review. It sounds like you had a great day out in Picton exploring our little town as part of your Cruise Ship itinerary. We hope to see you again one day!
Carolyn_D, Nov 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed our boat cruise in the Marlborough sounds from Picton. The Queen Charlotte sound is very scenic and the Ship Cove is beautiful.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Carolyn, thankyou for your review. We are really happy to hear you enjoyed the Ship Cove Cruise with our team.
Tisa_I, Nov 2024
What a great experience, throughly enjoyed the time.
Awesome knowledgeable crew. Would highly recommend.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Tisa, thankyou for your review. We are really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your time on the Ship Cove Cruise. We do think our team are amazing at what they do we are glad to hear that you do too!
Nan_S, Oct 2024
The highlight of the tour is encountering 3 groups of dolphins on this tour, very pleasant surprise. There are times it's a bit slow and dull but for the price, it's very worthwhile.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hey Nan, thanks for your review. How amazing that you got multiple pods of dolphins on your tour, that makes it all the more special!
Randall_S, Oct 2024
I would highly recommend this morning boat ride through the Marlborough Sound in Picton. The boat is lovely, clean and easily accessible to all ages. The tour guide was excellent, gave us history and facts about the Sound and we had a nice stop at the location where James Cook landed with his sailors. The birds were chirping and came very close to us. The trip started at 9 and ended at 12 with plenty of time to shop and eat locally. Well worth the money.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hello, thankyou for your review and for your helpful and kind comments. Our team work really hard to provide a great tour and well maintained boats are our pride and joy! We are really glad that you could fully enjoy this experience :)
Aaron_Y, Sep 2024
Fairly mediocre and underwhelming cruise. The sound system was ‘broken’ on the boat. In reality, the sound system was working for the top half but not the bottom half of the boat so there seemed to be no commentary given at all, which was a promised part of the trip. So we just rode around the sound without any context or any idea of anything we were looking which just made it seemed like we were on a boat that was running errands dropping off bags and packages. A few of us asked about the issue after and the representative did not seem to care or make an effort to provide either something that could help provide commentary or any compensation on behalf of our diminished experience. An email sent after directly to give another chance to help fix this resulted in the same. Would not recommend traveling with this company and go with another company that cares a little more about the customer experience.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Aaron, thanks for your review. We always hope that our guests really fully enjoy themselves on our cruise but it certainly sounds like you didn't have the best time with us on this occasion. Our customers are certainly our number 1 priority but also is the safety of everyone onboard, its not possible for the skipper to leave the helm to make an announcement or repeat the commentary upstairs. I am sorry to hear that overall this affected the enjoyment of your trip but I do hope that you still enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
Dyllan_G, Jul 2024
We had an awsome trip saw two types of dolphins, penguins and seals galore. The guide was helpful and full of knowledge great day.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Dyllan, thankyou for your review. We are really pleased to hear that you enjoyed your time on the Ship Cove Cruise with our team - how awesome that you got dolphins, penguins and seals you lucky things :) Hope you got some great pictures!
Jeff_B, Jun 2024
Donna was so helpful and friendly booking in, while Greg was an awesome guide. Ship Cove is now my favourite place on earth.
Thank you!
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Jeff, thanks for your review and thankyou so much for your lovely comments about Donna and Greg. They certainly are brilliant team members and try so hard to make every customer experience memorable.
Amanda_B, Jun 2024
We enjoyed the cruise, lovely weather, great captain letting the kids steer the boat on the return trip.
Liked all the extra stops along the way, dolphins turned up which was exciting for everyone.
Wekas interaction at ship's cove. No complaints very enjoyable cruise.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hello, thankyou for your review - we are really happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise and it sounds like the little ones had a great time too!
Gina_C, Mar 2024
Great trip, just as advertised! Well organized and no complaints. Saw seals close by and opportunity to walk a section if wanted
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Hi Gina_C
Thank you for your review, we are so glad to hear you enjoyed your tour with us. Our team runs a pretty smooth operation around here so I'm glad you could see that!
Rachel_B, Mar 2024
It was okay. I had a decent time, it was just getting on a boat and sitting for 45 minutes then wondering around an island for about 20 then back in the boat. After the island we got back on the boat and made luggage stops. It was cool to see the different islands from the water but it wasn’t spectacular.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review, we are sorry to hear that you did not fully enjoy the tour. We wish all our guests to have the best experience with our team so we will see how we can improve the tour for future visits.
gillianashtonsmeaton, Feb 2024
Well worth doing, excellent value for money. The guide/captain was very informative. What a great trip to get walkers from place to place. Highly recommend.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review, we are really pleased to hear you enjoyed your time on the cruise with our team. We appreciate you choosing to travel with us.
Leslie_H, Feb 2024
Fabulous cruise, very scenic. Learned about the history of the sound, the ongoing program to remove the trees poisoning the earth and water, and how the sea life is coming back now.
If you love being on the water, this is a great way to spend the morning seeing beauty.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review, we certainly have a very passionate team and they have a lot of knowledge about the area which they love to share!
Michael_A, Dec 2023
Awesome experience, beautiful scenery, tour guide knowledge was an amazing insight. Really enjoyable despite the weather not being the best!
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review!
Lorne_M, Apr 2023
Absolutely beautiful! The local Captain is extremely informative and we can feel that he loved his native local area and cares about the wildlife. We saw tons of Dolphins, sea lions and different bird species.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review!
Anita_Y, Apr 2023
Lovely scenery…and dolphin as well, although the captain seemed reluctant to go off the route to enjoy them.We basically just rode the boat and had absolutely neither guidance nor commentary nor interaction with the crew. Weather was rainy and when dropped off at the island there was nothing to do—the muddy hiking paths did not feel safe in the rain. Not enough shelter and it was very cold. Could not go back to the boat as they leave the dock and you are out of luck until they return. Maybe other crew or captain have been amusing or friendly - that was not our experience.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review, Im sorry to hear that you did not have an enjoyable day out. The Department of Conservation has very strict maritime rules around the protection of dolphins so we may not have been allowed to view them any closer. Understandably a cold and rainy day can be hard to enjoy.
Beth_L, Apr 2023
The beautiful mountains enveloped in mist. We enjoyed watching dolphins and seals swimming in the sound.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review!
Irene_E, Apr 2023
This cruise is a great way to see the Sound. We also stopped at Ship Cove, which is a beautiful site. Our skipper, Jason, gave us history of the Sound, and knew a lot about the nature.
Response from Host, Apr 2024
Thank you for your review!
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