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Awesome Tours

Awesome Tours

Awesome Tours
5
City ToursEco ToursPrivate ToursNature & Wildlife Tours
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Sunday
8:00 AM - 8:00 PM
About
Awesome Tours is a privately owned and operated small group tour business providing local scheduled tours, tailor made personalized multi day tours and shore excursion tours to meet your needs. These can include areas such as Milford Sound, Queenstown, West Coast, Mt Cook or the entire South Island. Day tours from Dunedin can include areas such as the Catlins and Moeraki Boulders and the Otago Peninsula. We provide small group scheduled and private shore excursion tours for cruise passengers while in Dunedin including pickup/return from/to Port, Key City Sights, Natures Wonders Argo Wildlife tours ( Yellow Eyed Penguins, NZ Fur Seals and much more) Natures Wonders authentic Sheep Shed experience, Larnach Castle and the Royal Albatross Colony.We look forward to being of service to you.
Dunedin, New Zealand
Meets animal welfare guidelines

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles222 reviews
Excellent
210
Very good
7
Average
0
Poor
3
Terrible
2

These reviews have been automatically translated from their original language.
This service may contain translations provided by Google. Google disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to translations, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and freedom from forgery.

Marki L
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
What an amazing experience!

Sharon was our guide for the day and was very knowledgeable and such a delight to be with for the day. She took us to the World’s Steepest Street, the Dunedin Octagon, the Albatros Colony and Nature’s Wonder and then back. At the Octagon, we had time to walk down to the Dunedin Railway Station, shop for unique hand carved crafts and she pointed out a great coffee shop as well.

The Albatros Colony was fantastic! To learn about these amazing birds and see them in their nesting habitat was truly a treat. Sharon also had our lunches ordered and ready for us after our Albatros tour.

Nature’s Wonder was amazing as well!. The ride on the all terrain vehicles was fun. Seeing the yellow eyed penguins, blue penguins and fur seals was such a treat!

The entire day was an amazing experience!

Thank you Sharon for making it such a great day!!!

We can’t wait to visit New Zealand again, especially Dunedin!

Patrick and Marki - United States
Written 1 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

cricketnut29
Auckland Central, New Zealand117 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023
We were on an Ovation of the Seas cruise around New Zealand and back to Sydney.
One of the ports we called at Port Chalmers on Wed 13th March allowed us the opportunity for us to organise a private tour with Mark Dixon from Awesome Tours. What a wonderful tour he allowed us for the half day we spent with him with the main attraction being going to Larnach Castle which we thoroughly enjoyed. In addition Mark dropped us off at the historic Dunedin Railways Station and we also had a half hour in Dunedin Central to stretch our legs. On the way back to the ship we went to Balwin Street the steepest street in the world before returning to Port Chalmers through the back streets of Dunedin. Throughout the tour we had expert and interesting commentary from Mark about the history surrounding the tragic ownership of Larnach Castle and about Dunedin.
We cannot speak more highly about this tour and Mark and strongly recommend any future visitors to Dunedin to use Awesome Tours. Also his rate is about half of what the cruise company tours are.
Written 25 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Travel16734556029
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2024 • Family
If you want to make sightseeing in Dunedin different and special, Awesome tours are for you.
They know a lot about not only Dunedin's history, but New Zealand's as well.
I am a Guide who has visited Japan many times, so I am very kind to Japanese people who don't speak English well.

I took my kids, ages 6 and 9, and they prepared the junior seats on the bus and made the belts tight enough to fit the kids, so I could go on the bus tour with peace of mind.
(You may want to contact us in advance if you want a junior seat.) In my case, I didn't have any other kids to use, so I was able to use it.)

At Natures Wonders, it was thrilling to see the wild penguins and seals up close, but the kids were so excited!
We took a ride called Argo to the cape, and the ride was like a theme park attraction again, and the kids had a great laugh! I highly recommend it.

At Albatross colony, I could see the kids (but not the giant ones) waiting for their parents through binoculars! I would have liked to have seen the parent bird, but I can't help it because it means the natural world.

Overall, I was glad I chose Awesome Tours, as it was such a great experience for the kids!
Automatically translated
Written 10 October 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Carol B
2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
We were so lucky to have this as part of our extras on our recent trip to New Zealand .
The weather was dire on the afternoon but Mark showed us what was available and explained what was out of view. The final leg to see the seals and penguins oh so worth it. We did manage on our return to the hotel to see the Albatrosses again. He offered to email photos which he has kindly done and I thank him for that. Please once all this covid19 is over go on a visit with Awesome Tours.
Highly recommended
Written 26 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

JRB
1 contribution
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2023 • Friends
Seeing the wildlife/scenery good; ppl running the tour were not so good. Thinly-veiled racism and a very unfriendly cafe/shop lady left me feeling sad that I paid for this experience. To start the tour, the van driver tried to convince us that the enslaved Māori were not kept in the caves he pointed to (contrary to what the Māori believe). Then he pointed to a field and made a "joke" about the sheep with brown wool being Māori sheep because of their color. When we arrived at the cafe before the start of the off-road, the lady running the cafe (that's part of the tour group) was incredibly unfriendly, wouldn't make a coffee, and initially didn't want to let us use the toilet. The penguins and seals were cool though.
Written 21 March 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Roger H
Sacramento, CA3 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Family
This was a private tour, arranged in close consultation with the proprietor, Mark. Mark was amazing, and managed to fit three major locations (the Larnach Castle, the Royal Albatross Centre and tour, a tour at Nature’s Wonders where we saw blue penguins up close and a (rare) yellow eyed penguin at a distance and a seal colony) as well as fitting in a walk to and along the beautiful Allans Beach, a stop at the Railway Station, and a quick driving tour of the town of Dunedin including Baldwin Street. …all during our cruise ship visit. Amazing. Mark was very careful and conscientious and made sure that everything went like clockwork (including a lovely lunch at the Albatross Centre) and yet somehow we never felt rushed. He provided a wealth of historical, cultural, geologic and biological information connected to all the things we could see… and what he helped us to see. He was charming and pleasant and we would happily us him again on another tour. Highest recommendation!
Written 29 December 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

buckarette
Boulder, Colorado2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022
We booked the Otago Peninsula Tour which included the Royal Albatross Center and a Nature's Wonder experience (penguins, seals and scenery). We had a wonderful day with our guide Sharon who picked us up at the cruise ship dock and lucky us, we had her all to ourselves! The weather wasn't particularly great that day but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless. Sharon was an absolute pleasure to be with and made our day special. We can wholeheartedly recommend Awesome Tours.
Written 6 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Marie-Louise H
Brisbane, Australia37 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2023 • Couples
We had the best time with Mark from Awesome Tours. The name of the tour Awesome Tours being very apt. Mark collected us in the city and drove us to Natures Wonders. All the way he was pointing our different things and giving us so much information which was fabulous from city sights to the Peninsula. Natures Wonders is the most incredible place . We got to see Albatross, fur seals including babies , little blue penguins and yellow eyed penguins ( everything they promised ) The gentleman ( both at the desk and Martin ) were friendly and so informative. Back with Mark who was happy to give us a recommendation for dinner which was fantastic. The local knowledge was so appreciated as was the whole afternoon. We felt very spoilt ! Thanks Mark, Martin and the whole crew.
Written 5 May 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rhonda O
Grande Prairie, Canada114 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2023
Our tour guide Sharon was our best tour guide on this cruise! My mother and I joined another couple for a full day tour of Dunedin. We travelled in a comfortable van with Sharon giving us plenty of information about the area. She was a fantastic driver and answered all our questions. We drove into Dunedin and had some free time to wander around. Then we went to Larnach Castle, where she toured us through the castle and gave us free time to wander the castle and the gardens, Then we went to Royal Albatross Center for lunch. She had pre-ordered our lunch for us, so it was ready when we arrived. Then she stood in a long line while we ate our lunch. By the time she was at the front of the line, we went and paid for our lunch and then carried on. Then we headed to Natures Wonders for a wildlife tour to see baby NZ seals and penguins still in the nest. Sharon was very considerate of our time and made sure we had the best experience and saw the most during our tour.

We highly recommend Awesome Tours. The owner mark, was with another group and he kept checking on us to see how we were enjoying our day.
Written 20 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

TerryKennedy
Imbil, Australia76 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020
Awesome Tours is only a small company but Mark, the owner, is a great guy. We went on a wildlife tour which was very informative and interesting. Mark is a wealth of knowledge and gives great personal service. He allowed time to look at all the attractions and we saw dolphins, penguins, seals, great scenery but the highlights was the albatross that almost touched the top of the minibus. Do a tour with Mark, you wont be disappointed.
Written 21 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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