Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony

The best customer service. Although we couldn’t wait to see the penguins the staff was still patiently explaining my questions! I will definitely buy tickets next time!!!! You can still see heaps of seals lying on the beach For free!

Fantastic experience! It was great to see little blue penguins in the evening tour. I would highly recommend taking vip tickets and bringing along binoculars. Taking photos or videos is prohibited as a part of the evening penguin tour.

Most amazing place and definitely worth it even though you have to wait for the tiny penguins to arrive. My 21 year old daughter loved it so much and said that it was the best experience of her life! They don’t allow photos but we got a few before and after the restrictions. If you don’t pay but want to see the penguins you could possibly see them after they arrive on the street or around the sanctuary trying to get to their nests.

Terrible. Absolute waste of $90NZ for two adults to see penguins from 50m away. Spoken to like school children. Keep quiet. Don’t move. No photos. And they all come up naturally all along the side of the harbour. We saw two in the rocks on the walk home. And we took photos and the penguins didn’t mind. The local holiday park we stayed at even had signs to watch out for the penguins so really there was no need to pay to see them. We really were expecting a more up close and bigger experience. Don’t bother. Should have asked for a refund.

I enjoyed my visit to Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony. It was my first time seeing the blue penguins. The blue penguin is the world's smallest penguin at just 13 -16 inches tall and weighs a little over 2.2 pounds. It is found in many places around New Zealand and Australia and is a protected native species. The blue penguin population is declining throughout New Zealand. There is an information center and outside a boardwalk with informational signs. You can see and photograph the boxes lived in by the penguins. There is a house that allows you to see them closely, and they are magnificent, but no photos are allowed inside the house . Prepare yourself for the smell of the house. Afterward, there is a boardwalk that leads to seating where you can observe more sea life and birds. I tried to make a compilation video. I highly recommend this activity. They also have a nice gift shop.

Worth the tickets! We saw over 150 penguins returning home. We had regular tickets but luckily the penguins decided to walk towards our seats so we got a good look. After sunset there were a few penguins walking around the parking lot.

Go and you will fall in love penguins, support them! Please listen to instructions of the guides so everyone can enjoy and not scare the penguins. Don’t have a video of the penguins obviously but here is a peak of the area.

Very cool experience! We went relatively late in the day but still before the informational center closed and long before the nighttime penguin viewing. We just got a day pass. We took a short informational walk through the facility before a staff member led us through part of the colony and let us peek into a nesting box that a penguin had gone in! She warned us when we bought the ticket that there was only one penguin in the darkroom that day, which we were fine with. It was super cool to see the little penguin in its nest so up close! We spent a good hour-1.5 hours afterwards hanging out in the viewing deck area that overlooks the ocean. Tons of seals were there and one even climbed all the way up the rocks to sunbathe on the viewing platform!! We got super lucky and saw a penguin come in really early and start hopping up the rocks! Overall a very cool way to spend the evening.

I came here during the day, so I did not do the nocturnal viewing of the actual penguins coming in. There is a $10 day use fee, which if it wasn't going to the preservation of the penguins would have been exorbitant for what you experience. During the day, the penguins are out to sea or hibernating in their little "huts". You pay your fee at the visitor center and are escorted by a guide back to the viewing house to see what penguins are in residence for that day. The house contains viewing tubes down the boroughs of various huts and if there is a penguin in there you can kind of see them via red light. It is not the clearest viewing as the lenses are a bit cloudy/scratched and because of the lighting. When I went there were two chicks and an adult who was beginning to malt. It was neat to see them, especially the chicks. They are soooo tiny! You could tell the poor little adult penguin was not having a fun time w/the malting and I was lucky enough to see a few feathers come off. The feathers are super tiny as well! After the viewing house, the guide walked me past some of the other huts that they provide for the nesting penguins, which are cute because it is like a little village of sorts. I was then left to walk around the viewing grandstand, behind which were some NZ fur seals. They were fun to see up close & personal and the coastline views were gorgeous. However, that was about it to see/do here during the day.

Do I have to give it a star? I must say I did not pay the admission to this attraction. It was $30 a person to sit in a hard plastic seat for 30 min to see the penguins walk through to their nesting area. The place had every indication of a tourist trap. They ban taking pictures so you have to buy theirs. All that is fine and it's a matter of taste and choice. But I find the place offensive. What they have done is build a tourist attraction right in the path the penguins take to get to their nesting grounds. I can't believe the NZ Government allows this. I have seen lots of penguin colonies in South Africa. The penguins are protected and their nesting colonies are national parks. This NZ attraction is just a bad idea. We went and sat on the breakwater next to the place. And had a wonderful time watching these magnificent birds. Shut the tourist place down and enjoy the birds.

Good, Bad and Poor Management, Read bottom Line! Good - because we got to see groups of Penguins arriving from the sea for a couple of minutes! We were in front row Premium seats only a metre away. Bad - However any further back would have been a waste of time and the general seating a disaster as the holes they open for the penguins to come through are only on the premium side. Poor Management - The commentators were on the general side with microphones, unfortunately the English speaking commentator's Microphone was not working properly so in the Premium seats we could not hear! The Chinese commentator was fine so we had to go to reception to ask them to swap when it was their turn, unfortunately the English speaking commentator was such a very poor speaker we still couldn't hear! REALLY!! However when we left we encountered Penguins along the seafront all the way back to our accommodation because they cross the road to nest in the caves! Or in our case under the stairs of our accommodation. Moral is one doesn't have to pay exorbitant prices to see these lovely critters!

Really not a high energy evening but still fulfilling. They have it planned to a Que, but go the extra mile and do the VIP. Plan about 1 1/2 hours and arrive early. Take in the commentary and watch these little guys come home from a hard days work.

The Penguins were wonderful, completely charming and worth the price of admission. However, the whole atmosphere regarding the viewing was very off-putting. They don't let you photograph the Penguins, they say it is for the birds safety, which I have a hard time buying into ( just ban any flash photography). It isn't even the photo ban , as much as the way they enforce it. It is as if they are just waiting & hoping to catch a violator. The placed reeked of overt capitalism. This is the one and only thing on my trip to the South Island to leave a bad taste in my mouth. By the way, you can take photos of the maverick Penguins in the parking lot after you leave .... They didn't seem to mind or want any extra money.