Hiking or biking the Queen Charlotte Track (1-4 days) – regular boat services offer transport and pack transfer at several entry and exit points.
Cruising the Sounds via charted sailboat, or sea kayaking excursion
Exploring Picton’s foreshore, where you’ll find maritime history and learn about some fascinating sea-life inhabitants of the Marlborough Sounds
Diving in the crystal clear waters of the Long Island Reserve – take your camera not your catch bag.
For detailed activity options visit Sights and Activities
Find out about Water Transport option in the Sounds
Many visitors to Marlborough arrive by sea through the glorious maze of deep coves and sheltered bays of Queen Charlotte Sound. A place where the historic past overlays present maritime pleasures, its an unspoilt wilderness of native forest and bush that reaches down to secluded beaches and azure blue water – an idyll of fishing, diving, boating, kayaking, nature trails and wildlife.
At the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound, nestled between the mountains and the sea is Picton. Once a Maori settlement, and now a charming seaside township that accommodates the region’s port, extensive marina facilities and visiting cruise ships, Picton is rich in history. The tales unfold in Picton Museum and at the Edwin Fox on the foreshore – a relic of the Crimean War and still afloat.
Take a cruise to explore historical sites such as Ship Cove, visited several times by explorer Captain James Cook as he charted New Zealand, and Motuara Island, where he first claimed British sovereignty in January 1770. It’s now a bird sanctuary where rare South Island robins come to your hand. En route, you’ll see dolphins, penguins, shags and seals – the wildlife love it here too.
Lunch in the Sounds or head back to Picton for fresh local cuisine and an espresso in the sun - indoor/outdoor cafés abound amidst the galleries and souvenir shopping. Accommodation is plentiful, from motels, B&Bs and backpackers, to shoreline resorts and hideaways. Numerous businesses offer transport, tours, guides and gear for land or water excursions.
There’s a host of short bush walks from the town to hidden beaches and lookouts, offering breathtaking views and wilderness experiences. Or venture out on the renowned Queen Charlotte Track, which leads walkers and cyclists over 71km into the Marlborough Sounds. Suited to all ages and experience levels you can journey for four hours or four days on this broad wilderness pathway through lush coastal forest, around coves and inlets, and along skyline ridges with breathtaking views of Queen Charlotte and Kenepuru Sounds. Combine with a sea-kayaking adventure to get the most out of it. Select a different accommodation option each night – from luxury lodge to backpackers – and have your pack delivered to your door by boat.
How The Sounds Were Formed
The Marlborough Sounds is a network of fjiord-like waterways, sheltered by steep hills, most clad in native and timber forests. Geologists would describe the Sounds as ‘drowned valleys’, where in past millennia, the mountains sank in earth movements and the sea flooded into the valleys. Maori legend tells a more exotic story of their creation, how as Kupe wrestled with a giant octopus he grasped at the South Island for support, his fingers digging deep and carving out the waterways.