The 9 Boat Trips in Marlborough That Fill Up First

1.Queen Charlotte Sound Mail Boat Cruise from Picton

★★★★★★★★★★4.7 · 541 reviews · 4 hours · from $75Our pick

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound on a working mail boat, spotting wildlife, meeting remote residents, and learning local history from your skipper.

“Absolutely fantastic, my hat goes off to Dylan as he is an outstanding ambassador for the sounds and your business. Further, the way that he handled a very abusive customer was exceptional; i hope that you don’t ever allow that person back on one of your vessels as his behaviour on exiting the vessel was completely unnecessary.”

Check availability →Read our full review

2.Full Day Iconic Mail Boat Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 321 reviews · from $86Top rated

Review the Pelorus Mail Boat Cruise in Marlborough Sounds, with wildlife, remote homes, local stories, practical tips, price advice, and honest drawbacks.

“All round this was a really neat day trip. Stunning scenery, very interesting hearing about the local area’s. You have 3 options for lunch, 1/ take your own lunch and sit, swim in the lovely bay, 2/ Farm tour, with own lunch. I choose this option. I thought it was super interesting. 3/ Restaurant for lunch, where I heard had delicious food and beverages.”

Check availability →Read our full review

3.Queen Charlotte Sound Mail Boat Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 295 reviews · from $75

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound on a working mail boat, visit remote coves, spot wildlife, and see how isolated communities receive supplies.

“My partner & I enjoyed the cruise. The day started off cloudy in the morning but it was lovely & sunny for the afternoon cruise. It was good to go to different bays/coves delivering the mail with good commentary too. Took a lot of nice photos & videos of the beautiful scenery”

Check availability →Read our full review

4.Marlborough Sounds and Ship Cove Cruise from Picton

★★★★★★★★★★4.2 · 252 reviews · 3 hours · from $66

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton to historic Ship Cove, with live commentary, wildlife chances, and stunning Marlborough scenery.

“Nice little trip. Informative guide. Plenty of time to explore.”

Check availability →Read our full review

5.Motuara Wildlife Sanctuary Tour and Dolphin Cruise from Picton

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 180 reviews · from $104

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound, spot dolphins and seals, and walk Motuara Island sanctuary on a guided half-day tour from Picton.

“Highly recommend this trip. The staff were very friendly and knowledgeable. They knew where the best viewing sites were and we were able to see all the wildlife that we expected, which was amazing to see. The hot drink and wine offered on the way back was an added bonus.”

Check availability →Read our full review

6.Picton Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Marlborough Wine Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 165 reviews · from $155

Review of Jade Tours’ Picton Marlborough wine trip, with four to five wineries, chocolates, small groups, lunch advice, and cruise timing tips.

“Very interesting tour. We learnt a lot about the region, particularly the wine making industry. We visited four wineries and a chocolate shop. Our guide Lucinda was informative, well organised and fun! Highly recommend this tour.”

Check availability →Read our full review

7.Marlborough Icons Tour – Wine tasting + Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 76 reviews · from $198

Review the Marlborough Icons Tour, combining two winery tastings, lunch, local seafood, and a scenic Marlborough Sounds cruise.

“Highly recommend this tour, our guide was excellent & so informative. We enjoyed the wine tasting & cruise was good, unfortunately weather not amazing, not their fault of course. Thank you for a great day!”

Check availability →Read our full review

8.Picton Shore Excursion: Queen Charlotte Sounds Cruise

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 65 reviews · 1h 30m · from $50Best value

Cruise Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton in 90 minutes, with scenic bays, wildlife, local stories, and a practical $50 price.

“boat was full, but okay. We had a seat and a good view. it was a nice ride”

Check availability →Read our full review

9.Marlborough Wine Tour – Picton Cruise Ship Shore Excursion Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 28 reviews · from $176

Review of Picton’s small-group Marlborough wine tour, with four wineries, chocolate tasting, vineyard views, lunch tips, and cruise timing advice.

“We had an amazing time! Our driver and guide Bill was into his wine as well and had a wealth of knowledge. Awesome group of people and fantastic memories. Highly recommend this wine tasting tour”

Check availability →Read our full review