Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → The Southland → Doubtful Sound

♦ Intrepid Top Pick!

Location: West Coast, Southland, New Zealand

Time Required: 1 – 2 days

Red Tape/Notes: Crested penguins are most likely to be spotted from July to November; book early if you want a cabin on one of the smaller boats.

What’s Nearby?: Milford Sound, Kepler Track Day Walk

If you want to get away from the tourists, Doubtful Sound is a better choice than Milford. For one thing, the fact that you have to take a boat from Manapouri and then get on a bus to drive across Wilmot Pass to get to Doubtful Sound eliminates most casual tourists. For another, there’s a kind of peace and solitude that can be achieved here that you won’t find in Milford. The size helps (Doubtful Sound is actually a fiord, possessing multiple arms, and it connects with other sounds and coves to the north); you can get away from people in some of the arms or neighboring sounds. Also helpful is the fact that you have to get on a boat and therefore when you’re planning your trip you can decide what kind of boat you’re interested in. Some boats carry as many as 70 people, while others carry a maximum of 12. You’ll exit the bus after crossing Wilmot Pass and immediately be transferred to your boat. If you’re like us, and chose a smaller boat, you’re immediately enveloped in peace and quiet as your boat whisks you away.

I vastly prefer the overnight cruise option, since it gives you the opportunity to go further, do some additional activities, and maximizes your chance of seeing the sun, since the weather here is unpredictable but does see a lot of rain. The rain makes the waterfalls flow, though, and the area turns into something akin to Avatar. We chose Fiordland Cruises, and were delighted. We had 10 fellow passengers, all of whom were lovely, and we were able to go fishing and check and set lobster traps – we actually ate freshly caught fish and lobster for dinner.

Another reason to visit Doubtful Sound over Milford is for better wildlife viewing. A cruise on Milford Sound will take you by a fur seal rock. You’ll certainly see adorable fur seals on a Doubtful Sound cruise, but you’ll also likely see dolphins and you may see crested penguins (tawaki), particularly if you’re in the area from July to November, during breeding season. Crested penguins is the common name of the genus for all the penguins with the long yellow eyebrows (google Lovelace from Happy Feet – although he’s technically a rockhopper species and we’re talking about the Fiordland crested species…but close enough, right?).

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → The Southland → Doubtful Sound