Okarito Boat Eco Tours

This is the best trip I have, no one talk about Okarito before! Always Franz & Fox, how could they miss out this place, it is magical!This is a place where Paula and her husband work so hard to reserve this piece of bird lagoon! They love meeting people who show their interest to see and learn about the bird ! I can feel the passionate of this couple toward this land ! While they are strolling us around this lagoon in their small family boat, nice and peaceful, All the info they give show how much they know about this place as I thought they are just showing you off their little house backyard!Along the trip, you get to see different bird life that the nature have arrange for you, all the info and knowledge you learn from Paula, so much fun! At last we get the privilege to stop a while at river to enjoy bird song with hot tea!You must try this, unless you really hate/scare of bird, otherwise anyone would have love this!!

Hosts are just great. Lots of information about the bird life and the wet lands. Genuine interest in their guests. Life jackets and binoculars are provided.

We loved our tour of the Okarito wetlands with Swade this morning. It is such a special place and we felt very lucky to see lots of amazing wildlife. Swade was a brilliant guide, showing us several different bird species, and telling us about the conservation efforts in the area. It's one of our favourite things we've done in New Zealand, would highly recommend!

Paula and Swade are wonderful! Our time with them on the water was terrific. They are completely focused on providing a wonderful experience in their magical lagoon. You'll leave feeling like a member of their family.The more recent review from Eyal is an outlier and says far more about entitlement than the sublime experience you'll have with Okarito Boat Eco Tours.Do it!

Great experience Lagoon had unusually high water levels so mud flats were flooded so didn't see seabirds. But got to go up high into Bush lined inlets. Beautiful reflections. Saw white herons, shags, spoonbills, juvenile blackswans trying to take off. Cuppa and biscuits provided. Very friendly and informative. Great trip.

Took the 0900 tour of the Estuary.Absolutely loved it. SO worth doing.We'd not have kayaked this far up the estuary. Stunning scenery. Many birds.Several kotuku.Good binoculars provided. Swade a pleasure to be with as he boated us. Well worth doing.A highlight of our okarito experience.

What an awesome morning with the kotuku, spoonbills and godwits this morning. Swade is so knowledgeable about the flora and fawna of this area (and his baking is topknotch also). The time spent in the channels was so peaceful and beautiful. We highly recommend Paula and Swade's Eco tour. Great value for money. Many thanks.

A very good alternative to tourist boats and cheaper ($ 75 per adult), the owners are warm and cheerful. We could see herons and other birds even in the afternoon. I recommend.

Wonderful trip this morning with Okarito Boat Tours. Paula and Swade are great hosts who are welcoming, knowledgeable and passionate about the environment and bird life. We saw kotuku white heron, royal spoonbill and godwits to name a few. Highly recommended eco boat trip.

Amazing tour of an incredibly beautiful wetland. Knowledgeable and passionate guides, we loved hearing about the local wildlife and conservation projects. It was amazing to see some White Heron in particular as they are particularly rare (and majestic), along with a number of other beautiful birds.