53 Rankers Reviews
38 Face-to-Face
3 Seal Watching
2 Penguin Watching
1 Oamaru
Head along the beach from the famous boulders to the lesser known Moeraki lighthouse. Located at the end of Lighthouse Road in Moeraki, the lighthouse is dates back to 1876 and is still in use.
The coastline boasts fur seals, shags and Yellow-eyed penguins (Hoiho). Keep a respectful distance from the wildlife, seals can move pretty quickly when they want!
Feature | Value | Info |
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Location |
South Island ▷ Coastal Otago ▷ Oamaru |
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Showing 13 reviews of 51.
Katie
Ranking: 10/10
Incredible- saw sea lions and many yellow eyed penguins!! Went at approx 5-5:30 pm and walked past the lighthouse and cownpaddocks to the end of the walkway- could’ve touched a baby sea lion and walked through at least 20 adults. Saw a group of penguins come up on land- so close! Do not miss- we were sceptical but are now very impressed.
Fabian
Ranking: 10/10
Super nice place! Saw three penguins and loved every moment of that.
Lots of seals, some chilling in the grass like 5 meters from the path. Keep your distance though.Easy walk, not too full.
We went at around seven PM.Note: the area is being closed around 7:30 so don't come too late.
Teb
Ranking: 8/10
An easy walk and nice views, but the lighthouse is fenced off. What’s up with that? :(
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Sally Munday
Ranking: 10/10
Well worth the detour. Easily accessible in giant 6 berth camper. Good parking, short walk to see seals all over the place, on the beach and in the fields. Didn’t see penguins today.
Hannibal Winther
Ranking: 10/10
Amazing experience! We saw penguins and seals. It was easy to go around and you really get the chance to see the animals in the wild.
Samantha Brewin
Ranking: 9/10
Easy drive out along a well maintained dirt road. The view was nice but the opportunity to see wildlife was awesome! Please keep to the track and be quiet and respect the wildlife...keep your distance!
Harold Booy
Ranking: 10/10
Great place to see wild penguins up close for free, also many seals.
Ivanova R
Ranking: 10/10
Great for seal viewing.
Lili Souris
Ranking: 10/10
Nice short walk. A lot of seals and yellow-eyed penguins!
Lisa
Ranking: 10/10
Easily accessible, free, great!!
Ludo and Cha
Ranking: 10/10
We missed the turn off to our campsite and turned to a lighthouse driveway. At the far end, a beautiful free and wild reserve where you can walk to seals and penguins 'home'. Magic!!
Boukje Diijkstra
Ranking: 10/10
More than a hundred seals swimming, playing and lying around. You can see them from above (20-30 metres), but some of them were lying in the grass and you could walk along side them. Also four penguins, fantastic! Very windy at some places.
Georg H.
Ranking: 3/10
What a disappointing place! The description says it's lesser known than the Moeraki Boulders. In the end it was totally crowded with much more people than at the Boulders. Lots of people and families. Was there at 5:30pm... Fences everywhere so you can't really get close to whatever you want to see. Another sign that too many people are visiting this place. The hidden penguin lookout was also closed. For me it was a 1/10, because I went there for seeing penguins, but rated with 3 because at least you can see seals there (which you can see at several other places in the Otago area with fewer people). Would not recommend this place, what a waste of time.
Thanks to all the good people working for the NZ Department of Conservation - for all your hard work - making NZ more beautiful, accessable and healthy! Cheers 😍