Doubtful Sound – A luxury cruise journey

Doubtful Sound is an isolated fiord in the South Island, New Zealand. It is part of the Fiordland and famous with its nature and beauty. Fiordland is a region situated on the south-western part in New Zealand, comprising of a number of Fiords (or sometimes called Sound). There is a more popular fiord in Fiordland which is called Milford Sound.

Most of the people will opt to visit the Milford Sound instead of Doubtful Sound, because Milford Sound is more commercial and accessible (means cheaper as well!). Nonetheless, Doubtful Sound is a more remote and natural place with higher reputation in beautiful scenery view.

I joined the Doubtful Sound Cruise tour offered by GoOrange which cost me NZD$183 for a full day tour, this is a very early bird price including a $25 meal. The more popular tour company in Fiordland is Real Journey, and it’s price is slightly higher than GoOrange. Before my cruise start, I was offered to upgrade to Real Journey cruise with no extra charge due to one passenger exceeded in GoOrange. However I rejected the offer because I know Real Journey has a very big group. I prefer a smaller group in a smaller boat (the maximum number of passengers in GoOrange is 45 persons), and I am glad with my choice.

I stayed for two nights in Te Anau. The tour bus picks me in Te Anau at about 7am, so I have to wake up at 6.30am! I realize that I am more hardworking in traveling as compared to working XD In the beginning of the tour, we visited the Manapouri Power Station. That day was a public holiday so there are only a few workers.

After visited the power station, our bus drive us to take the Doubtful Sound cruise. I am lucky because it is a very sunny day. There are amazing views along the way.

Little blue penguins are swimming, but they disappeared quickly!

Dolphins were trying to catch up with our boat. They are cute and warm blooded animal 🙂

The view above is the scenery in the end of the cruise (as we cannot go further). Personally I like this view very much. Some of the water has been frozen which makes it perfect colour combination with the very blue sea, but it is definitely more stunning when you see it in real experience. The tourist guide said there were sea lions but I couldn’t spot it, as our boat cannot be too close with them. We stayed here for a short while, then our boat head back to the starting point.

When going back, our tour guide approach the boat to the rainbow waterfall so that we can have a closer look.

Overall, the Doubtful Sound is a beautiful place but honestly I had a bit disappointment. Perhaps I expected too much. I have seen many wonderful natural scenery in New Zealand but the Doubtful Sound didn’t surprise me too much. I was expecting a very clear sea view reflecting the shadow of the mountains and clouds, but actually it didn’t, though I do not understand why such view could be taken with a camera.

Moreover, I am more interested in the walking track instead of joining a cruise. My next target is to complete the Milford Sound Track one day. If you like to take a cruise and have a little more budget, it will be a good idea to visit Doubtful Sound.