An eco-tourism business based in Doubtful Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand. Lance and Ruth own and operate the 20 metre motor-sailing yacht Breaksea Girl. Our live aboard cruises, which have an emphasis on nature, conservation and research, cover all of Fiordland, Stewart Island and Subantartic Islands.

Lance and Ruth, both active conservationists with maritime qualifications, offer you a true natural history, eco-tourism experience. Recognised as one of the leading eco-tourism businesses in New Zealand, our emphasis is on environmental protection, education and research funded though tourism.

Lance, your skipper, has over the last 30 years worked with the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Jacques Cousteau, David Bellamy, National Geographic, Natural History film units and scientists from all over the world.    He  was one of the diving pioneers in Fiordland,  and has been involved in many research projects. 

Both Lance and Ruth have extensive experience working with people of all ages having been employed in the tourism industry prior to forming their own business 16 years ago.  All activities non-extractive, therefore we employ a NO FISHING  policy and a no take policy for divers. 

Included activities are:  penguin watching, tramping,  diving, photography, snorkeling,  marine mammal watching,  bird watching, research,  visiting historical sites and guided and unguided forest walks.  
Fiordland Ecology Holidays have a Marine Mammal Watching Permit which  allows you to swim with seals if the opportunity arises. We also hold a Dept of Conservation Concession which permits us to take guided walks ashore in the National Park.   We hold a Surface water Consent for all of Fiordland.

Breaksea Girl has  all the required marine certificates and is fully surveyed.

   Photo courtesy David Wethey

Enquiries are welcomed from disabled or elderly, and special diets are catered for.    You have the opportunity to (a) Join a scheduled cruise,   (b) Charter the Breaksea Girl for your own use with Lance as your skipper, or (c) Join one of our research trips and have the opportunity to work alongside scientists.

We carry a maximum of 12 passengers plus crew, schedule trips are restricted to 10 passengers plus crew, but we reserve the right to increase this to 11 passengers on some trips.
Wet suits and snorkel gear is available for your use on board. For divers, tanks, weight belts and weights are on board.                        

Our crew are trained in accident and emergency procedures and we carry extensive safety equipment. Breaksea Girl is fully fitted out
with refrigerators, freezers, compressor and auxiliary power. Lance and Ruth would like to share with you the Fiordland that they love.

OUR CODE OF ETHICS:

 Lowest possible impact on the environment .
Guaranteed personal attention .
To support research through tourism .
Treat all life forms with love and respect .

Research projects we have helped fund through tourism include, weevils, skinks, and dolphin monitoring, seals counts, marine research, DNA collection from whales and sea lions, albatross counts and data collection, predator eradication, re-forestation, restoration of historical sites, tourism impacts and work with New Zealand native birds.

We have scheduled cruises throughout the whole year. Our southern ocean sailing can include these areas: The World Heritage Fiordland National Park ... Milford Sound, George Sound, Doubtful Sound, Breaksea and Dusky Sounds, and Preservation Inlet. We also sail to Stewart Island, the Snares islands and the Auckland and Campbell Islands in the sub Antarctic ocean.

Overview - Research - Scheduled Cruises - Faq's - Gallery - Maps - Links - email

Contact

Restoration Ecology Research Programmes,
CONSERVATION , YOU CAN JOIN !

Yours in Conservation, Lance and Ruth
Email us from here for any further information or,
Click here for your voyage intentions form.

Ph / Fax (64) 03 2496600 - Bookings 0800 249660
PO Box 40, Manapouri New Zealand.

We also have books available on this unique wilderness