Guided Wildlife Tours
Experience New Zealand’s unique wildlife, wild as nature intended
Project Island Song’s guided wildlife experiences give you the best possible opportunity to discover some of Aotearoa’s rarest native birdlife in the beautiful Bay of Islands.
As the only organisation permitted to provide regular guided tours on the islands of Ipipiri, our tours provide a unique opportunity to experience their incredible wildlife, learn about their rich history and cultural significance, and explore their iconic views.
All proceeds from our guided tours go directly to support Project Island Song’s mission to protect and restore the unique ecosystems and heritage of the Bay of Islands so that they are here for everyone, forever.
Private tours for your group of up to 6 people are available to book online now. If you are interested in booking a wildlife experience on a date that isn’t currently listed, please email info@projectislandsong.co.nz and we would be happy to explore whether we can make that happen for you.
We keep a close eye on multiple weather and sea condition forecasts in the days leading up to your tour. Safety is our first priority, and we have strict criteria around wind and swell for the safe operating conditions of our boat.
A final judgement will be made on the safety and suitability of the sea conditions forecast at midday on the day prior to your trip.
Tours will continue as planned where light rain or showers are forecast, but if there is a day of heavy rain forecast which would ruin the enjoyment of the experience, we will cancel or postpone.
If sea conditions mean that we cannot operate our boat on your booked day, we will make every effort to offer you an alternative, by:
If we are unable to adapt or reschedule your trip, 100% of the tour cost will be refunded to you.
We can pick you up on either Paihia wharf or Russell wharf. You can select your pick-up point when booking.
We can return you to either location, if you would like to spend the afternoon exploring the other town. You can then use the passenger ferry to return to your original starting point later on.
We suggest using the toilet before departure. There is no toilet on our boat, and only one toilet on Moturua, at Homestead Bay. This is typically midway around our walk. Please note this is a long-drop toilet.
While the track is mainly well-formed, the hike does require a moderate-good level of fitness. The loop is 4.6km long and does include hills – there is a total elevation gain of around 240 metres.
We have allowed a generous 3.5 hours on the island to complete the loop, which gives us enough time to walk at your group’s pace, as well as plenty of time for wildlife watching, questions, and breaks.
It is your responsibility to ensure that everyone in your group has the required level of fitness to complete the walk. If at any time our guide feels that someone in your group is not able to safely complete the tour, we reserve the right to exclude or remove that participant.
If you are prone to sea / motion sickness, we recommend taking motion sickness tablets the night before, and on the morning of the trip.
As mentioned above, the boat will not operate in sea conditions that are outside of our safe operating conditions. However, this doesn’t mean that there won’t sometimes be days where the journey out is less comfortable than others. This is the reality of visiting these beautiful islands!
The boat ride is relatively short (around 20-30 minutes) so if you aren’t a big boatie, at least you know this part of the day won’t last for too long.
Practical walking shoes – walking boots, shoes, or trainers. No jandals, crocs, or barefeet.
Water – there is nowhere to get food or drink on Moturua
Lunch/snacks, in a sealed container
Sunblock and sun hat
Waterproof jacket
Swimwear and towel, if you would like to swim
Any personal medication you need
Camera
Binoculars if you wish
We recommend bringing the essentials but otherwise packing as lightly as possible! You will need to carry your bag with you around the island.
Of course, no sightings are guaranteed, but you can typically expect to see a number of the following species on the islands, including many that you won’t encounter outside of wildlife sanctuaries:
Kākāriki / red-crowned parakeet
Pōpokotea / whitehead
Tīeke / North Island saddleback
Toutouwai / North Island robin
Mioweka / banded rail
Riroriro / grey warbler
Pāteke / brown teal
Miromiro / North Island tomtit
Kōtare / sacred kingfisher
Tūī
Pīwakawaka / New Zealand fantail
Tūturiwhatu / New Zealand dotterel
Tōrea / Variable oystercatcher
Your guide will also introduce you to the habitat, and look out for signs of some of our nocturnal inhabitants, including North Island brown kiwi and wētāpunga, while ruru / morepork can sometimes be spotted dozing the day away in the trees.
We may also be lucky enough to spot some of the Bay’s plentiful marine life on our way out to the islands, including dolphins, kororā (little blue penguins), and other seabirds.
You can cancel your tour by logging into our website where you made your booking and navigating to My Account > My Orders, or by emailing info@projectislandsong.co.nz.
If you cancel your tour we will refund your payment in the following manner:
(a) 60 days or more prior to the tour date: 100% of the total tour cost will be refunded
(b) 8-59 days prior to the tour date: 80% of the total tour cost will be refunded
(c) within 7 days prior to the tour date – 0% of the tour price is refundable, and your booking will not be transferable to another tour
(d) no refund or rescheduling is available for “no shows” or cancellation after the tour has commenced.
We will be making a beach landing on the island, which will mean getting your feet and lower legs wet when getting on and off the boat. We will provide towels for you to dry your feet on the beach.
The boat is open at the back and there is a chance you may get some spray on the journey to and from the islands, depending on the sea conditions. We suggest wearing a rain jacket under your lifejacket if you’d like to be sure of staying dry.
Yes! You can request a private tour for your group of up to 6 people on our booking page here.
Select your preferred day and click Book Now. Once you have submitted this request, we aim to respond to confirm all bookings within 2 working days.
If you are looking for a date or time that is not listed as available on the calendar, please email us at info@projectislandsong.co.nz, and we would be happy to explore whether we can make that happen for you. Please be aware that this may not always be possible as our boat may already be in use for priority work such as pest surveillance, volunteer work, or other restoration work.
Currently we are only taking bookings for private, whole-boat tours, sorry. We may look at running scheduled tours with the ability to book tickets individually in future.
Unwanted pests and weeds on the islands can be devastating to wildlife.
None of us expects that we would be the person to unknowingly bring a pest to the islands, but it does happen.
Whether you’re visiting for the day, camping, hiking, kayaking or boating, there are a few simple steps you can take to help protect our endangered island wildlife from invasive predators and diseases.
This beautiful wildlife sanctuary is open for everyone to visit.
Outside of our guided walks, there are numerous ways you can get to the islands, whether it’s on a commercially-operated vessel, your own boat or kayak, or with us on a volunteering trip. Find out more here.
