Ulva Island Tours: The Predator-Free Bird Sanctuary Walk

Ulva Island, Te Wharawhara, is a predator-free open sanctuary in Paterson Inlet, a few minutes by boat from Stewart Island, and the easy way to see it is RealNZ’s guided walk and cruise from Oban: 2.5 hours, about an hour and a half of it on foot with a nature guide. It is from US$101 a person, rated 4.6 from 185 reviews (checked October 2026). Go for the birds; a kiwi by day is a bonus, never the plan.

Illustration: a gravel track through tall podocarp forest with ferns, a South Island saddleback on a low branch and a weka on the path, a small group with a guide watching quietly in daylight — Illustration. Ulva Island’s tracks are easy gravel paths through podocarp forest.

The island

DOC gives Ulva Island a land area of 266.6 hectares and about 11 km of coastline. Most of it is part of Rakiura National Park; 7.6 hectares between Post Office Bay and Sydney Cove are privately owned. It became one of New Zealand’s first reserves in 1899, and in 1872 Charles Traill opened the first post office of the Stewart Island region at Post Office Bay, where boats still land. Rats were eradicated in a programme that ran from 1992 to 1996, and the island was first declared pest-free in 1997. Keeping it that way is constant work: Ulva is just 780 m from Stewart Island at its closest point, rats arrive on average once or twice a year, a breeding population took hold in the winter of 2023 and had to be eradicated again, and DOC declared the island rodent-free once more in March 2024 after a rat was found in a trap that February. On 23 January 2025 DOC announced a new incursion response: a rat had been found dead in a trap on 13 January 2025 during routine surveillance, and trail cameras had since recorded rat activity.

Map of Ulva Island / Te Wharawhara in Paterson Inlet, with Oban wharf and Golden Bay on Stewart Island to the north and Halfmoon Bay beyond — Boats leave from Golden Bay or Halfmoon Bay and land at Post Office Bay, on the island’s north side.

The birds

DOC lists weka, kākā, kākāriki, tūī, bellbirds (korimako), kererū, fantails (pīwakawaka), South Island saddleback (tīeke), rifleman (tītitipounamu), brown creeper (pīpipi), Stewart Island robin (toutouwai) and yellowhead (mohua) among the island’s birds; the saddleback, yellowhead, robin and rifleman were all reintroduced. The forest is mostly rimu, southern rātā and kāmahi. On the beaches you may meet fur seals and sea lions, which come ashore to rest, sometimes on the tracks: DOC asks you to keep at least 20 metres away. RealNZ says some lucky visitors have seen a tokoeka by day; for a kiwi you can plan on, it is the evening walk instead (kiwi spotting on Stewart Island).

Three ways to go

RealNZ’s Ulva Island Explorer. A return boat from the wharf in Oban, a cruise of Paterson Inlet with stories of Māori and European history on the way, and a guided walk of about an hour and a half through the forest and along the beaches, in a small group. RealNZ lists it from NZ$179 on its own site, with a picnic lunch at NZ$38 if you order it before 8 am on the day (October 2026). On GetYourGuide it is from US$101 a person (checked October 2026); check in 20 minutes before.

Check dates for the Ulva Island walk →

A local guided walk. Ulva’s Guided Walks runs a half-day walk on the island, 3.5 to 4 hours, with a water taxi from the Golden Bay wharf, at 8:20 and 12:40 daily from October to April and one morning departure in May, July, August and September; it does not run in June or on Christmas Day. Adults from NZ$194, teenagers 14 to 18 from NZ$108, children 5 to 13 from NZ$95, in groups of ideally 3 to 7 (Ulva’s Guided Walks, October 2026). Ruggedy Range offers Ulva Island tours of 3.5, 4.5 or 8.5 hours. Both are booked directly with the operators.

On your own. DOC says water taxis, guides, charter boats and a ferry run to the main wharf at Post Office Bay from Golden Bay or Halfmoon Bay, and the main walking tracks start there. The tracks are easy, but without a guide you will hear far more birds than you can name.

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The rules

Check your gear. Before the boat, check bags and packs for rats, and your shoes, pockets and Velcro for seeds.
Daytime only. Night visits are not allowed, and there is no camping or accommodation.
No dogs, which can kill ground birds.
No bird calls. Do not play recorded calls or songs.
No feeding, especially the weka, which will try.
No drones without a DOC permit.
Pack it in, pack it out. There are no shops and no rubbish bins.

Fitting it into a stay

The Explorer takes 2.5 hours, so it fits on the day you arrive on the morning ferry or before an afternoon sailing back. RealNZ’s Rakiura in a Day package combines it with the Village and Bays tour and the return ferry, from NZ$449 on RealNZ’s own site (October 2026). With a night on the island, do Ulva in the morning and the kiwi walk in the evening.

See the Ulva Island calendar →

The island’s size, ownership, history, eradication, incursions, birds, trees, seals, access and rules are from DOC’s Ulva Island pages and its March 2024 and 23 January 2025 media releases; the Explorer’s length, inclusions, picnic and NZ dollar price from RealNZ’s Ulva Island Explorer page; the GetYourGuide price, rating and check-in from the listing, read in US dollars on 30 October 2026; Ulva’s Guided Walks from its own site; Ruggedy Range from its own site. All read in October 2026.