What a great afternoon exploring the gorge by train. Comfortable seating with just the right amount of commentary. The scenery is beautiful and changing all the time. We travelled with a three yr old who slept on the way up.

We really enjoyed the ride with the old and gorgious carriages through the marvelous countryside of Otago. Thanks to the staff for an unforgettable afternoon.

Would have been helpful if conductor had put the step out for us!

I really like taking a train so Taieri Gorge Railway was so amazing activity for me. You can feel nice breeze during train trip. I bought fish and chips before jumping on train and enjoyed lunch in the train. You can also get something to eat and drink in the train but you can use EFTPOS only one time. I recommend you to prepare any cash.

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip up and down the Taieri Gorge from Dunedin. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Everything ran to time and all the staff were so polite and informative. There is an excellent commentary and as the carriage was not full we were able to swap sides to get the best views when we needed to. We enjoyed standing at the viewing areas at the end of each carriage for soe of the journey. There was a buffet car on board and prices were reasonable. There is time to stretch your legs at scheduled stops along the way. Everything was very clean, including the loos!

Wonderful half day seeing some amazing sights. The train itself was beautiful and let you feel like you were back in time. Fantastic renovation of the carriages.

We had a lovely calm sailing @14.30 ,the wind was low so we weren't expecting to see albatross but we did. The staff on the Monarch are so helpful and knowledgeable. They have binoculars for you to use. We saw a giant petrel, the albatross chicks, albatross adults- 2 types, fur seals, a sealion, a pod of dusky dolphins and a surprise visit by a humpback whale! I had a great time. Such a wonderful experience and the views from the boat were stunning. Thank you.

Thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the cruise. Polite and informative staff. Saw penguins seals and a variety of sea birds. Seeing albatross feeding and flying brilliant. Recommend this cruise to all.

We all loved the experience of seeing the Albatross up close, while we were in the observatory 5 young Albatross got together and had a party. Not only did we see the Albatross soaring past our window but there were the NZ fur seals swimming around below and many other birds. Our guide was great telling us all about the location and the birds, a wealth of knowledge.

One of the best experience in South Island! The staff are professional and friendly! The penguins are so adorable and lovely! Will highly recommend to people who wanna experience something unique in New Zealand:)

Lyndon was an excellent tour guide, weaving together Maori culture, New Zealand history, and great personality while showing us wildlife and plant life. We were able to see fur seals, penguins, albatross, dolphins, many other bird species, and learn about some important plants. I would highly recommend this tour!

Lot of information from the skipper/guide, a really interesting tour. We've seen penguins, albatross, seals and a lot of other sea birds.

Buddy and the team were really friendly and informative! We saw lots of animals including blue and yellow eyed penguins, Nz fur seals and albatross. Thanks!

Friendly and helpful staff. I have been twice and both times were different bit equally enjoyable. They work with what wildlife is there at the time, getting you as close as possible and informing you with many interesting facts.

Great trip & crew who were very informative

This was the best way to see the albatross in there natural environment. The boat was so much fun and the crew knew exactly what they could do to help you see everything. They had jackets onboard and binoculars so you could use too.

Great 2.30pm trip for our wedding anniversary (as been wanting to do this trip a while now when visiting Dunedin) Did the Self drive to the wharf and jumped on board. Got to see dredge ship in action container ship, hectors dolphins, seals, albatross in flight and on the water, along with Sooty shearwater, shags, cape petrel, giant petrel. Great boat for the wave action and excellent viewing around the cliffs and seeing the birds from the Boat. Jackets and binoculars supplied as an added bonus. Thanks lads for a great trip! Highly recommend,

Within the first five minutes of leaving the dock we found seals hunting and eating octopus, seal pups on the rocks, bird colony on the cliff face. A few Albatross about and just as we were coming back in an hour later there were some blue penguins. A short trip but we’ll worth the money and the perfect amount of time if you were to take out younger members of the family.

Fantastic experience. Highly recommended

It was an enjoyable hour on the peninsula with a knowledgeable tour guide and skipper. We even saw hector dolphins. Great for kids as not too long. Yay

We have wanted to do this cruise for a long time and we are so glad we took the opportunity to go yesterday. Absolute magic. The captain gave us a running commentary on the bird and marine life and the crew members were genuine and keen for us to have the full on experience. They pointed out so much for us to see that the hour cruise was over all to quickly. We had soaring Albatros, grand petrels to mention a few and our day was made when we saw a blue penguin diving through the water. As I said a truly magic experience. Can’t recommend the cruise highly enough.

Great experience for the whole family with children ! Will visit again!

It was a great wee trip around Taiaroa head. We saw a fur seal mum and pup, Gannett, Royal albatross and Buller albatross. The commentary was very interesting and delivered well. The only down side I would say was the size anid set up of the substitute vessel used in winter when the Monarch is getting fixed. We didn't know it was a substitute in advance, and as people got on, people weren't really sure where to go and how to fit on the vessel. It soon worked itself out as most people settled on the deck (back deck)

What a fantastic tour - we were lucky enough to see lots of albatross and seals (breeding season for albatross in March!) and the trip was hugely enhanced by the super-nice boat guys and very well-informed commentary - learned so much. Comfy, character boat and just the right period of time on the water. Thanks Monarch!

This 1 hour boat trip was great, even with the weather not to good. However the windy conditions let the albatross fly and fly and fly. An our small group (sometimes bigger groups are on board) had much luck and next to the seals we saw yellow-eyed penguines, little blue penguines and hector dolphins. I learned a lot of new things about the different animals and had some great time on board.

We have great memories of the days. See all types of bird sea lion blue penguin.. and most of experience a crow of bird following fisherman coming back from sea. During our last turn before finishing the trip we see a few of dolphin. The staff are so nice and make a turn just to give us a few moment enjoy watching the dolphin.

Great cruise, made the best of middling weather conditions and our guides helped us see 3 species of albatross, among other awesome things! Our guides Buddy & Jurgen were knowledgable and enthusiastic, and helped us top off a great few days in Dunedin! Will definitely be travelling with Monarch again.

friendly knowledgeable staff, excellent adventure, reasonable pricing, would definitely recommend

Good weather & enjoyable cruise. Friendly staffs, filled us with loads of information throughout the cruise. Though there was no blue penguin ? nor dolphins but we could see albatross & fur seals laze around their habitats. Great for family adventure

We saw a lot of seal But did not see dolphin on the day Sad But it's a great experience and the crew on board is very helpful

We had a great time. Thanks a lot.

A great afternoon on the water with very chatty and knowledgeable guide and skipper. I think everyone had a good time, and we saw multiple different species. Thank you.

The trip was great. But the best of all it was the friendly people working there and is the first place where they give us a paper with all the animals we were about to see in Spanish. New Zealand for someone who speak Spanish is very difficult even in the airport have all the languages except the Spanish. So thanks for that!! Awesome experience