Trip itinerary

2 day doubtful sound sea kayaking

Day 1: Your wilderness experience begins early in the morning with a short road shuttle to Manapouri to board a boat for the 30km journey across stunning Lake Manapouri.

This is followed by a road journey crossing the remote alpine route of Wilmot Pass to Doubtful Sound. On arrival you will change into paddling gear, pack kayaks and be given a full safety briefing and instruction from your experienced guide.

The group then spends 5 – 6 hours kayaking in the midst of Doubtful Sound, alongside the massive glacial landscape, deeply faulted mountainsides, waterfalls and sometimes penguins, fur seals and dolphins. A lunch break is made on an uninhabited beach, surrounded by pristine native rainforest.

On arrival at the camp site, you will set camp. As evening falls, enjoy the company of fellow paddlers as you each prepare your meals in the group shelter and enjoy the surrounding untouched, pure wilderness.

Day 2: After breakfast we break camp, load the kayaks, then encounter the morning stillness of Hall Arm. The fiords mirrored waters ripple past the kayaks, or in the wet, waterfalls cascade from the mountain sides.

The group paddles to Malaspina Reach and Elizabeth Island before returning early afternoon to Deep Cove, under sail if possible, for pack up and lunch.

The final leg is the journey back across Wilmot Pass and Lake Manapouri by boat and vehicle, allowing you the opportunity to reflect on the beauty of the scenery and the rewarding two day experience.

3, 4 & 5 day doubtful sound sea kayaking

The following trip itineraries summarise possible 3, 4 and 5 day guided kayaking tours of Doubtful Sound. Each trip begins and ends with the same transport process as the 2 day tour above.

Note: Weather conditions, wildlife encounters determine the actual kayak route.

3 DAY doubtful sound sea kayakING

Day 1: As for the 2 day tour we begin kayaking from Deep Cove and we paddle down the main reach of Doubtful Sound, passing Elizabeth Island and Olphert Cove, watching for seals and penguins, stopping near Crooked Arm for lunch – a long first stint.

Afternoon paddling becomes more challenging in places – time to practise new skills. As we near the entrance to Crooked Arm, the weather will decide whether we cross into the Arm or camp in a river valley opposite its entrance. Our campsite in Crooked Arm is relatively close to the entrance, in a sheltered bay beside a waterfall.

Day 2: Stillness is normally the theme in the morning. The choice is to spend the day exploring Crooked Arm (30kms to its end and back to the campsite) or leaving the Arm and paddling to Hall Arm for the night (see 2 day tour above).

Crooked Arm is a long narrow arm with a definite turning point like an elbow and often the afternoon playground of the resident bottlenose dolphins – their presence can dictate our paddling timetable as can the weather! Time, energy and weather permitting we explore its length, stop for lunch, maybe a swim, sometimes put up the sails.

Day 3: Departing early from Crooked Arm, we kayak down the southwest shoreline of Doubtful Sound, having lunch on a beach opposite Elizabeth Island, possibly a look into Hall Arm. A challenging morning’s paddle with the weather being a determing factor affecting shoreline choice, lunch place and route into Deep Cove. Normally the sails are put up for the final stage, ending the 3 days on an exhilerating note or an America’s Cup Challenge, kayak style!

4 DAY doubtful sound sea kayakING

Day 1: kayak down Malaspina Reach, into Crooked Arm

Day 2: We spend the day exploring Crooked Arm – a long narrow arm with a definite turning point like an elbow and often the afternoon playground of the resident bottlenose dolphins – their presence can dictate our paddling timetable as can the weather! Time, energy and weather permitting we explore its length, stop for lunch, maybe a swim, sometimes put up the sails.

Day 3: We kayak out of Crooked Arm towards the ocean, maybe to Secretary Island, an island wildlife sanctuary or if the weather dictates, returning down the main reach to Hall Arm.

Day 4: We paddle either back down the main reach or exploring Hall Arm to Deep Cove.

5 DAY doubtful sound sea kayakING

The plan is as follows but no two tours are the same…

Day 1: Our destination for the first night is a small sheltered cove opposite the entrance to Crooked Arm or in favourable conditions a campsite at the junction of Doubtful, Thompson and Bradshaw Sounds.

Day 2: Depending on day 1, an early start continuing down Malaspina Reach, the fiord becoming steadily wider with glimpses of the open ocean in the distance. Secretary Island looms before us as we leave the Reach and cross one of the most exposed areas of the fiord – Pendulo Reach – a major junction of waterways. Large shingle beaches appear on our right – time for a hot drink maybe.

From here we paddle into Bradshaw Sound – characterised by steep inaccessible sides. Another favourite playground of the dolphins. Lunch is close to the junction of Gaer Arm, McDonnell Island and Precipice Cove, one of the most beautiful areas of the fiord. After exploration we either camp here or in Gaer Arm at the mouth of the Camelot River.

Day 3: Hours can be spent in the graceful waterway of the Camelot, exploring a network of channels – images of the Amazon rainforest come to mind. Depending on conditions we may return down Bradshaw Sound paddling to the junction campsite or to the Gut Hut or on to Crooked Arm. Sailing the kayaks is an option whenever the conditons allow during the trip to give us a break from the paddling.

Day 4: A big day with an early start. The aim is to paddle out of Bradshaw Sound, around into Crooked Arm if we have not been there on Day 3. Either way, we explore as much of Crooked Arm as time and weather allows. A comfortable campsite, the evening becomes a time for reflecting on the trip so far.

Day 5: Stillness is normally the theme as we leave the campsite anticipating the challenge of the morning’s paddle down the southwest shoreline – a 3 hour paddle with no landing points. In marginal conditions we use the more sheltered northern shoreline. Lunch either in Olphert Cove or opposite Elizabeth Island and back into Deep Cove to return to Manapouri / Te Anau, hot showers, maybe a celebratory drink or meal out together and comfortable beds!