Daily.
Winter season (May 1 to September 30) Cruise only 11.00am; Cruise and
Underwater Observatory 12.25pm and 1.30pm.
Summer season
(October 1 to April 30) cruise only 9.00am, 11.00am, 1.00pm, 1.30pm, 3.00pm;
Cruise and Underwater Observatory 10.30am, 3.00pm; Milford Adventurer
including Underwater Observatory 12.25pm.
 Winter
season Cruise only 1hour 45minutes; Cruise and Observatory 12.25pm departure
3hours, 1.30pm departure 1hr 45min.
Summer season
Cruise only 1hr 45mins; Cruise and Observatory 2hr 15mins; Milford Adventurer
3hours
All cruises
depart from Milford Sound Wharf at Freshwater Basin, which is two hours
drive by car or scheduled coach from Te Anau. Coaches from Queenstown
take five hours and operate daily to coincide with afternoon cruise departures
and return that evening. Great Sights operates day return coach excursions
from Te Anau and Queenstown including a cruise. Coach/cruise/fly options
are available.
Milford
Sound is a fjord of spectacular beauty within the Fiordland National
Park. You will cruise down the south side of the Sound to the Tasman
Sea and return along the northern shore. The towering mountains, often
snow capped, and deep blue water is an image of New Zealand known around
the world. Some cruises include a visit to a new underwater observatory.
Full
commentary on the history and all the flora and fauna of the sound.
Admission to Underwater Observatory where applicable. Complimentary
tea and coffee on all cruises. Fully licensed bar. Snack food available
on all cruises.
Optional
meals are available. A buffet lunch is served on 1pm and 1.30pm departures
but must be pre-ordered on 11am departures. Snack Packs, available on
all departures, and the Fiordland Crayfish Luncheon must be pre-ordered.
Red
Boats are luxurious cruising catamarans which operate from the Milford
Sound Wharf in Freshwater Basin, originally the anchorage for the Milford
fishing fleet. See the Bowen falls which drop 160 metres (526 feet)
and Cemetery Point named for the mounds of rubble brought down by the
falls and resembling graves. Cruise past Sinbad Gully and Mitre Peak,
at 1692 metres (5560 feet) one of the highest mountains in the world
rising straight from an ocean floor. Cruise close to the rock face at
Fairy Falls and try to catch a cupful of pure alpine water. Pass the
lighthouse at St Anne's Point whose light is visible 22 kilometres (14
miles) out to sea and Dale Point into the Tasman Sea. The water here
is only 27 metres (75 feet) deep while the rest of the fjord is well
over 1000 feet deep.
Turning around
you pass Stirling Falls and Seal Point and see the Southern Fur Seals
at one of the few places in the sound they can climb from the water to
the rocks. Some cruises stop at Harrison Cove to visit the new Milford
Sound Underwater Observatory. See the permanently snow capped Mount Pembroke,
one of the highest in the fjord at 2000 metres (6561 feet). Pass by Fishermans
Wharf, today's home to the fishing fleet whose catch is mainly crayfish.
Stop at Sandfly Point to pick up hikers at the end of the world-famous
Milford Track, a 54 kilometre (33.5 mile) three day walk from Te Anau
to Milford Sound over Mackinnon Pass.
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