RealNZ on Stewart Island

RealNZ is the big operator on Stewart Island: it runs the passenger ferry from Bluff, the two guided wild kiwi nights, the Ulva Island Explorer, the Rakiura Village and Bays tour, the daytime walk at Oneke, day packages that combine them, car and e-bike hire in Oban and a multi-day expedition cruise. Its kiwi night is the one sold here, from US$152 a person, rated 4.8 from 205 reviews (checked October 2026). A handful of local guiding businesses run kiwi evenings too, smaller and booked directly with them.

Everything RealNZ runs on the island

From RealNZ’s Stewart Island page, October 2026, with RealNZ’s own starting prices in NZ dollars:

GetYourGuide prices checked October 2026, in US dollars; RealNZ’s prices from its own site in October 2026. RealNZ’s ferry and wild kiwi encounter pages add that 1% goes to conservation when you book directly online.

The two kiwi nights

RealNZ sells two evening encounters, and the GetYourGuide listing covers both.

• Rakiura Kiwi and Wildlife Encounter, Little Glory Cove. 4.5 hours, October to April, NZ$269 (RealNZ, October 2026). A 1.5-hour nature cruise among the neighbouring islands with an onboard talk, then an evening walk through coastal forest and along a secluded sandy beach. RealNZ pitches it as the one with the stronger wildlife cruise.
• Oneke by night, Walk with Kiwi. 4 hours, November to March, NZ$299. A boat to Oneke, The Neck, a cultural welcome and storytelling in the Oneke whare, a talk on kiwi conservation and the search after dark. RealNZ pitches it as the one with the cultural side.

Both leave from Stewart Island Experience at the main wharf in Oban, check-in 30 minutes before, with departures timed to sunset; both are for ages 15 and over; RealNZ takes up to 20 people a night in two guided groups. No refund if no kiwi appears; a donation to pest control is made instead. If RealNZ cancels for weather, you choose a refund or another date.

Check dates for RealNZ's kiwi night →

RealNZ or a local guide?

Oban’s local guides are small, owner-run businesses; you book them directly, not here. Their kiwi evenings, as their own sites list them in October 2026:

Pick RealNZ if you want the sea in the evening (the cruise, the seabirds, possibly penguins and seals), an easy online booking with free cancellation, or an evening with Oneke’s history. Pick a local guide for a smaller group, for children under 15 (Ulva’s from 12; Beaks and Feathers and Ruggedy Range have child prices), or for winter outside June, when RealNZ’s nights do not run. Ulva’s Guided Walks and Ruggedy Range also run longer Ulva Island walks than RealNZ’s, at 3.5 hours and more; Ruggedy Range’s overnight trip to Mason Bay on the west coast, which it says gives a high possibility of a daytime kiwi, is the one for keen birders with two days.

See open nights for the kiwi walk →

Ferry and tours together

RealNZ’s ferry leaves Bluff at 9:15 and 17:30 from 1 October 2026, with an extra 14:00 sailing from 1 December 2026; from Oban at 7:30 and 16:00, plus 12:00 from December (indicative). A day visitor can fit the Village and Bays tour and the Ulva Island Explorer between the morning and afternoon boats, which is what the Rakiura in a Day packages do. The kiwi night needs a bed in Oban. The ferry guide has the details, and the Ulva Island guide covers the island and its rules.

RealNZ’s products, lengths, prices, seasons, departure point, group sizes, age limit and policies are from RealNZ’s Stewart Island page, its Rakiura Wild Kiwi Encounters page and its ferry page; the GetYourGuide prices and ratings from the listings, read in US dollars on 30 October 2026; Ulva’s Guided Walks, Beaks and Feathers and Ruggedy Range from their own sites. All read in October 2026.