Milford Sound Scenic Flight and Nature Cruise

Your journey starts here - Check in for your trip with friendly staff and begin your experience of a life time. Complimentary accommodation pick up and drop off from central Queenstown is available.

After your safety briefing, take your seat and set off to Milford Sound, located within the UNESCO World Heritage–listed regions of Te Wahipounamu and Fiordland National Park. Marvel in the spectacular scenery as you leave Queenstown behind for a while. Large picture windows allow for optimal viewing throughout your flight as your pilot provides informative details about the terrain below. Marvel at gorgeous mountain landscapes cut with blue waterways, dusted by snow and framed by dramatic clouds and light. After a gentle landing at the airstrip in Milford Sound, trade your wings for watercraft. Board your small boat nature cruise, which provides a more intimate experience and allows your captain to get within touching distance of cliffs and waterfalls. This boat is purpose-built for viewing with 360º viewing decks and full length windows. You can even taste pure glacier-melt water from the 15,000-year-old Stirling Falls as the bow of the boat goes underneath. Expert Nature Guides aboard your boat share details about the geology of this glacier-carved region and any wildlife that you might see, such as birds, seals, dolphins and the rare Fiordland crested penguin. You are welcome to visit the captain’s bridge to learn about boat operations firsthand during the return voyage. At the end of your boat tour, enjoy a second chance to soak up the scenery as you fly back to Queenstown.

Fiordland National Park is in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s known for the glacier-carved fiords of Doubtful and Milford sounds. A beech forest trail on the sandy Milford shore offers views of towering Mitre Peak.

Milford Sound is a fiord in the southwest of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s known for towering Mitre Peak, plus rainforests and waterfalls like Stirling and Bowen falls, which plummet down its sheer sides. The fiord is home to fur seal colonies, penguins and dolphins. Milford Discovery Centre and Underwater Observatory offers views of rare black coral and other marine life.

The Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana is a mountain range extending along much of the length of New Zealand's South Island, reaching its greatest elevations near the range's western side. The name "Southern Alps" generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it. The range includes the South Island's Main Divide, which separates the water catchments of the more heavily populated eastern side of the island from those on the west coast.[1] Politically, the Main Divide forms the boundary between the Marlborough, Canterbury and Otago regions to the southeast and the Tasman and West Coast regions to the northwest.

Your pilot will Transfer you here for your Cruise & Food passes.

Milford’s second-highest waterfall is the Stirling Falls, a staggering 151m in height – three times the height of Niagara Falls, but the 1,300m mountain behind displaces this incredible height. This is the famous waterfall that Hugh Jackman ‘jumped off’ in the movie Wolverine. The sheer drop of the Stirling Falls allows boats to get right underneath – it’s an incredible feeling to have the power of 151m worth of glacial water falling so close to you.

Mitre Peak is a beautifully dramatic mountain in the South Island of New Zealand, located on the shore of Milford Sound. It is one of the most photographed mountain peaks in the entire country.

Nestled behind the world famous Mitre Peak, the Sinbad Gully is characterised by extremely steep glacially carved walls punctuated by near vertical granite cliffs. These walls slowed pest invasion into the gully and as a result a number of unique native species remain in the Sinbad. Southern Discoveries is passionate about preserving Milford Sound’s beauty for future generations which is why it’s a key partner in a major conservation project – the Sinbad Sanctuary Project. The aim is to see the valley of New Zealand’s most photographed mountain (Sinbad Gully is at the base of Mitre Peak) become a sanctuary for native species.