The Royal Albatross Centre, South Island, New Zealand

4.5 (2.138 reviews) Monday: 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM Spent 2-3 hours Ranking #12 in South Island Points of Interest & Landmarks • Nature & Wildlife Areas

Excellent visit duo tour

The only chance to see... the world's only mainland Royal Albatross Breeding Colony. A unique experience to access the nature reserve to see giant albatross court, mate, raise their chicks and show off their three metre wingspans. Taiaroa Head/Pukekura is alive with wildlife species, many of them scarce nesting seabirds. Our jewel in the crown is the Northern Royal Albatross. Experience it for yourself by taking a guided tour through the Nature Reserve into the viewing Observatory. The 2012 latest Lonely Planet publication "1000 Ultimate Sights" features the Royal Albatross Centre alongside the Taj Mahal and Grand Canyon. They say of us: Here at one of New Zealand's hottest attractions the draw card is the bird life. Taiaroa Head is the site of the world's only mainland royal albatross breeding ground, where you can observe the spectacle of the albatrosses with wingspans of up to 3m coming in to land like a succession of 747s. The Royal Albatross Centre is located on the tip of the Otago Peninsula, about a 45 minute drive from Dunedin. We are operated by the Otago Peninsula Trust, a charitable trust formed in 1967 for the protection of the local natural environment. The Nature Reserve on Taiaroa Head is managed by the Department of Conservation. Taiaroa Head is also famous in New Zealand history. From a small Maori camp in the 1300s to a fortified pa where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840; from a wooden flagstaff to 1864 lighthouse to radar entrance for Otago Harbour; from an 1880s underground fortress to a large defence base in WWII. Taiaroa Head is today a Nature Reserve and an iconic wildlife attraction.
South Island review images

Address

1260 Harington Point Rd, New Zealand.

Mobile

+64 3-478 0499

Website

http://www.albatross.org.nz

Email

[email protected]

Working hours

Monday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM
Sunday : 10:15 AM - 4:30 PM

Current local date and time now

Monday, May 06, 2024, 3:47

User Ratings

4.5 based on (2.138 reviews)

Excellent

58%

Good

25%

Satisfactory

10%

Poor

Terrible

Reviews

5Smilee168 5:00 PM Jan 14, 2021
My third visit, and it was the best
This is my third visit to the Centre, but my first on a combo ticket also to watch the Little Blue Penguins returning at dusk. Therefore, was on the last albatross tour at 7:00pm at this time of the year, then waited 1.5 hours for the only blue penguin tour at 9:30pm. The 1.5-hour wait was worth it. The albatross tour was the best I've experienced. Probably it was the time of day. Many albatrosses were in flight, and I managed to photograph 5 in a few photos. The guide was very knowledgeable. And he answered all questions posed to him. Two guides were with the penguin group. One of them explained what we were about to witness. With her experienced eyes piercing into the dark dusk (with dark clouds above) she could spot each raft of penguins approaching from a distance. That information enabled us to witness them approaching before they got ashore, making it a 'complete experience'. We had fish and chips at the cafe while waiting for the penguin tour. With a combo albatross and blue penguin ticket, our tasty fish and chips dinner was only $10 each. It was a good discount, but I can't now recall what the usual price was. A few other combo-ticket discount meals were available. That information was on a card on each table and at the cafe entrance. The staff taking our order at the counter did not ask if we had a combo-ticket.
5Jenny 5:00 PM Sep 1, 2020
Albatross, Blue Penguins and a bonus humpback whale!
Amazing experience at the Royal Albatross Centre! We booked for a 45 minute tour for the Albatross which included a short film about the history of the centre then 30min viewing at the 2 observatories. We were lucky enough to see 3 adult flying albatross, at least 5 fledglings who put on a show doing their wing strengthening exercises for us. We also spotted a humpback whale in the ocean and were able to watch it on the surface through the binoculars. We also booked the 75 minute Blue Penguin tour which is on every evening, where you can watch the smallest penguins in the world arrive back at their burrows in rafts. I'd recommend this in the winter/early spring as there was only 8 people in our tour so plenty of room to watch and get good photos.