Absolutely fantastic trip, well organised and professional. Water taxi out and got picked up by the mail boat. Lots of information from both captains. Even saw pod of dolphins on the way back to Picton. Would definitely recommend using Beachcomber Cruises if you go to Marlborough Sounds.

Fabulous Mail boat cruise up the Queen Charlotte Sound, great weather, great commentary and knowledgeable input from the skipper, postman and everything else and even sone dolphins. 10 out of 10!

The whole experience with Beachcomber was amazing. Everyone is very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Jason, our skipper, is a massive asset to the business and is so knowledgeable and involved in the ocean, Marlborough Sounds and the restoration projects under way there. Couldn’t recommend this business more!

We did the boat cruise to the Queen Charlotte Track, Ship Cove to Furneaux Lodge - first of all our captain and guide Jason was fantastic - learned so much we were curious about - the sound, history, marine and forest ecology, Maori history, saw dolphins etc. Gorgeous walk on the track through incredible forest (that he told us about) At the office we queried the time from drop off to pickup of 5 hrs 45 min for a 17.5 km walk (dropped at 10:15, pick up at 4) -was it enough time-it was - we had to keep a pace & shorten our stops on the way but very doable - not a hard walk but if you want to walk more leisurely/enjoy the views then suggest leaving at 8 not 9 am. Thanks Jason and Beachcomber!

Wonderful crew and views. Captains were so fun. Everyone should see that track. Don’t get lost. It’s impossible but I did 😄

I was so super impressed with the crew at Beachcomber. They couldnt have been more helpful with everything from the start to end of my trip. As a solo traveller they took the stress out of my whole trip and made everything super easy and stress free, even accomodating my many requests and last minute changes while i was on the track! Highly highly recommend this kiwi as operator for a smooth sailing trip to the sounds! Special shout out to Donna and Ella for dealing with my many enquiries!

This was the mailboat cruise. It left at 9am and we were back around 12. Our skipper was very informative about the sounds and the area including history and environment. We stopped to watch dolphins work with gannets to feed. Saw fish schools and a salmon farm in addition to the visit to Ship Cove. A great way to learn something of the area.

Great cruise along with the mail run and stop off at ships cove, absolutely brilliant commentary by Steve (a master of the sounds ) who also happened to showing a new skipper the ropes, talk about learning from best .

Have just had a brilliant afternoon with Beachcomber Cruises. We did the Magic Mail cruise where we picked up and delivered mail, people and dogs to various spots throughout the sounds. Jason, our mailman/guide was laid back and efficient in his deliveries even when we got caught on a rope one dropoff had left dangling and a mailbag got dropped into the water whilst being handed over at another. His tribe of Maori has been in the area for 800 years and Jason’s obvious love and care for the area came through in his constant stream of serious and humorous stories that covered history, conservation and the economy of the area. He was knowledgeable and caring, showing us dolphins, seals and salmon farms etc as all part of his afternoon’s work. Beachcomber Cruises asks if you would like to donate some money to conservation when you book and it was clear how invested in this they were. I highly recommend the Magic Mail Cruise.

Loved it. Great skipper with lots of knowledge on the area and history. It's fascinating to see how many people live in The Marlborough Sounds which is only accessible by boat. Delivering the post by boat had us seeing way more than we thought, in the way back we saw a pod of dolphins which completed the trip for us.

We traveled as a family group of 15, stopping off at Furneax lodge for lunch. The guide was excellent and the lunch amazing. Would recommend.

After our Ship Cove cruise was cancelled, Beachcomber Cruises offered my wife and I passage on the afternoon Magic Mail Run cruise instead at no extra cost. And what a fortunate change in plans that turned out to be. The planned itinerary involved mail deliveries to Otanerau Bay and Endeavour Inlet in Queen Charlotte Sound but the cruise delivered much more than that. Boat captain Jason provided a running commentary on the historical, economic and ecological background to the area. Not only did we drop mail at the planned locations, but Jason also took diversions to show us significant aspects of the Sound, including Ship Cove, the hiking lodges, Salmon and Mussel farms and allowed us to get up close to wildlife, including dolphins, seals and rare seabirds. The 3.5 hour cruise was great value and exceeded all expectations.

Mail Cruise down the sounds to Tory. Stunning weather. Fun to drop off the mail, see some deals and the salmon farms. But highlight was knowledgeable captain - such a great depth of information kept us entertained and educated the hole journey. Fascinating.

My husband and I and our 3 teenagers based ourselves in Picton and did self guided Queen Charlotte track walks on 2 consecutive days. The staff at Beachcombers were really helpful when we were organising our trip. They provided all the information we needed. They were flexible with pick up times and places and encouraged us to let them know if we had any problems getting to the pickup point in time. We had 2 amazing days on the track with glorious weather in the middle of winter. Seeing pods of dolphins close up on 3 of our 4 boat transfers was an unexpected bonus!

Got dropped off at Ship Cove and picked up on time at Furneaux Lodge. the Skipper Jason was very knowledgeable and fed us lots of information about the area on the ride to Ship Cove which took almost an hour. Views were breathtaking along the way as well as at the end point! Did a solo hike which took me a total of 4h30mins with barely any breaks other than stops for photos. The estimated time for this hike is 5h30mins, probably for those who walk at a more leisurely pace. Managed to complete without a map and just relied on the signs which was ok, except for one confusing sign somewhere in the middle of the track. Made it anyways! Was a pretty quiet hike - only met 1 biker along the way. Saw weka and fantail along the way. Would do this again perhaps with some company!