Stay longer in Picton and experience two of the Marlborough Sounds’ most important predator-free island sanctuaries: Motuara Island and Blumine Island / Ōruawairua.

This wildlife stay is designed for guests who want more than a quick cruise. It gives you more time to walk, watch, photograph and understand the wildlife, conservation and island history of Queen Charlotte Sound.

Travel with E-Ko through sheltered Marlborough Sounds waters, with opportunities to see dolphins, New Zealand fur seals, little blue penguins, shearwaters, gannets, King shags and other seabirds along the way.

Birding highlights include the orange-fronted kākāriki, New Zealand’s rarest forest bird, and the endangered King shag, a Marlborough Sounds species found nowhere else in the world.

Motuara Island offers native forest, island tracks, birdlife, seabird activity and wide views across Queen Charlotte Sound.

Blumine Island / Ōruawairua gives guests a deeper self-guided island experience, with time to explore tracks, coastal scenery, historic gun emplacement sites and rare wildlife habitat.

Guests visiting Blumine Island receive a self-guided island card with clear visitor instructions, track details, pickup points, toilets, walking distances, timings and emergency information. The card also marks the historic gun emplacement locations.

For the full-day Blumine Island section, guests must bring their own lunch, water and personal supplies. Blumine Island is remote and has limited facilities, so guests need to be self-sufficient while ashore.

This experience is well suited to birders, photographers, conservation-minded travellers and visitors who want a slower, richer Marlborough Sounds wildlife stay based from Picton.