We booked Beachcomber as a water taxi to Ship Cove and back from Furneaux Lodge. The whole experience of using Beachcomber was great, from the first contact with the booking staff to leaving the boat back in Picton - friendly, welcoming staff; clear instructions on when and where to board the boat; a non stop commentary on the way out about stuff generally with stops to look at random wildlife that popped up on the way (seals, blue penguins etc). And they were on time at both ends of both outward and return legs. I can’t really credit them for the scenery along the track itself but it was amazing 🤩.

We recently arrived in Picton on a cruise ship, and booked with Beachcomber Cruises for their Paua Pearl Farm tour. What a great day! The boat ride to Arapaua Island through Queen Charlotte Sound was beautiful. The boat captain was warm & friendly and was from the area, so very knowledgeable as well. When we arrived at the island, the Radon family was waiting for us at the dock. We had tea in their home as they told us their story and how they started their business. We also learned about how the unique blue pearles are created. We later toured the abalone tanks, seeing baby through adult-sized abalone. It was a fascinating day with wonderful hosts. We highly recommend this activity for your day in Picton!

The boat was nice and so was the ride but we didn’t have much time to walk around. My mistake to have gone on this tour. The staff was very professional.

Fabulous boat ride along Queen Charlotte sound on a beautiful sunny morning .. Interesting little stops on the way to pick up and drop off people... Ian the skipper was very informative and offered friendly chats on the bridge for us to to ask further questions ..and get more information Only disappointment was only having 15mins at Ship cove...such a stunningly beautiful place ...it was spoilt a lot by having to watch the clock and not having enough time to soak up this beautiful place....appreciate things need to run to time..but would have enjoyed it much more with more time..even 30mins would have greatly improved this experience and I would have given you had given you 5 Stars ,!!

It was a great day and the cruise was perfect. Condietable biat with good comments beautiful scenery. I recommend this trip.

We took the Arapawa Blue Pearl Farm excursion with Beachcombers. This tour provided a great trip through the sound to a fabulous experience at the Radon family’s pearl farm. A wonderful adventure and great service. I highly recommend Beachcombers

A fantastic trip with a great skipper, Dillan. Giving us a fabulous cruise and history of Marlborough Sounds. Stopped off at Cooks Cove and loved this little pice of paradise.

We had so much fun. We were part of the luggage transfer for trail walkers. Was led a small part of the trail. Saw the world’s smallest dolphin the hector and the largest the orca. Good commentary.

Loved the trip, was a truly amazing afternoon, our guide the pilot/ captain ( if that's what he is called !! ) made the trip interesting, with his knowledge of the area ,with a couple of amusing stories, thrown in. Obviously loves his job!! I would of liked to of gone to Ships Cove, but never mind still a great afternoon, very relaxing!

We had such a great time on this 2.5 hour tour We booked it from our cruise ship and had a thoroughly enjoyable time The commentary was just right - to too much talking but very informative I would suggest this tour - 5 star!

Excellent afternoon with the mail box tour, captain was very good at explaining and it was nice to feed the dogs, highly recommend, good way to see queen Charlotte and Marlborough sounds

We did the Ship Cove boat trip with Beachcomber Cruises from Picton. Very scenic cruise through the Sounds (and these really are Sounds, unlike Milford, Dusky and Doubtful which are actually Fjords but wrongly labelled "Sounds"!) Had a half hour stop at Ship Cove before returning to Picton. We chose to stay on the upper (outside) deck for the best views but it did get a bit windy at times so bring suitable clothing. Our cruise ship was docked at Shakespeare Bay, and from there we had a complimentary shuttle to a Picton drop off point. From there it was a 5 minute walk to the Beachcomber Cruises office. We had pre-booked, online.

We did the Motoura Island stop before going onto the Ships Cove to Furneaux Lodge walk. We'd thought it would be one of the highlights of our trip but it was disappointing. Complimentary coffee on board is advertised but there was none during the 1 hr trip to Motoura Island on the motorboat. We couldn't hear the explanation too well because of the noise of the boat. We had thought there would be more commentary - the people on the mailboat cruise (they picked us up) seemed to have had better commentary. The return boat had issues so we had to wait for a replacement to come, which is fine, but instead of keeping us waiting at the Lodge, where we had warmth and drinks, we were told to get to the boat around 3:45. It was a miserable day but we had to wait on the boat for close to 45 minutes. Poor service. I'd say this is more like a water taxi and less of a cruise.

A great experience getting to see places on Marlborough Sound that we wouldn’t have got to any other way. The skipper was really friendly and informative. Given the length of the trip (some 4 hours) the cost seemed very reasonable. Would thoroughly recommend.

Friendly and efficient service between Picton and Queen Charlotte trail, dropping us at Ship Cove and picking us up from Punga Cove 3 days later. Lovely views over the Marlborough Sounds and the crew pointed out wildlife along the way. It was quite pricey but there aren’t really any alternatives.