What to see in Milford Sound from the deck

Every day cruise on Milford Sound follows the same simple line. The boat leaves the wharf at Freshwater Basin, runs out along one wall of the fiord to where it meets the Tasman Sea, turns, and comes home along the other wall. Visit Fiordland puts the length of that line at 16 km, measured from below Mitre Peak to the sea.⁷ The small-boat cruise this site books sails the whole of it and goes out past the lighthouse on St Anne's Point before turning.

The exact stops change from boat to boat and from day to day. Southern Discoveries says its boats all travel the fiord end to end when conditions allow, and that while the stopping places differ, each trip takes in Stirling Falls and Harrison Cove.^8,9 That is a fair summary of the whole fleet: the landmarks are fixed, and the skipper picks the order, the pauses and how close to go on the day, reading the wind and the water.

On this site's cruise the skipper talks you through it, and the listing names the landmarks you will hear about: Lady Bowen Falls, Stirling Falls, Lion Mountain, Seal Rock and Copper Point. This Milford Sound cruise map, at the top of the page, follows those names and adds a few more that every boat passes. Read it once before you board and you will know which way to look when the engine slows.

Once the boat is clear of the basin, the view opens up to the peak that made the fiord famous. DOC describes Mitre Peak as rising 1,692 m straight out of the water and ranks it among the world's best-known, most photographed mountains.⁴ From the water it looks less like a postcard and more like a wall, because you are looking up at it from sea level rather than across at it from the shore.

Mitre Peak Cruises points out that what looks like a single summit is in fact 5 closely grouped peaks, and that the name comes from its likeness to a bishop's mitre.²⁰ Visit Fiordland gives it the Māori name Rahotu as well.⁷ Mitre Peak gets a page of its own here, covering the light hour by hour and where to stand for the classic reflection.

Just beyond it, look for a high valley that seems to stop in mid-air. Mitre Peak Cruises names Sinbad Gully as a classic example of a hanging valley, a side valley left high when the main glacier cut the fiord far deeper than its tributaries.^15,21 Once you can recognise that shape you will see it again and again along both walls, often with a waterfall spilling from its lip.

Further out, the fiord narrows towards its entrance and the cliffs drop closer to the boat. RealNZ describes slipping past Copper Point towards the Tasman Sea, weather permitting, with an eye on Seal Rock for fur seals.⁶ Both names appear in this site's cruise listing too, so expect the skipper to slow here.

Seal Rock is a resting place for New Zealand fur seals. RealNZ notes that they were hunted almost to extinction in the 1800s for their fur and have since recovered so well that they are seen all year.¹⁸ Mitre Peak Cruises goes further and says on its own cruise you will see fur seals lounging on the rocks; dolphins and Fiordland crested penguins need more luck.³⁰ Southern Discoveries is careful to say no sighting can be guaranteed.³¹

These animals live here, and DOC lists bottlenose dolphins, fur seals, Fiordland crested penguins and little blue penguins among the fiord's residents.³² Its advice for everyone on the water is to let the animals decide how close they come and never to stress them by approaching.²⁶ A good skipper keeps that distance for you; your part is to keep your voice down and enjoy it. Seal Rock is one stop among many, so enjoy it and then look up again.

The return leg usually runs along the opposite wall, and its highlight is a wide bay on the northern side. RealNZ says that from Harrison Cove you can watch Mount Pembroke and its glacier above the rainforest and pick out the end of the Milford Track across the water.¹³ Mitre Peak Cruises also points to snow-capped Mount Pembroke on its commentary.¹⁵

Harrison Cove is also where the forest comes closest to being the subject. The trees here grow on almost bare rock, and after rain every gully runs white. Mitre Peak Cruises says that in rain the cliff faces come alive with thousands of waterfalls, so the homeward run on a wet day can be busier than the outward one.³⁶ In clear weather, this is where to look up and find the ice.

All of this sits inside a marine reserve, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, one of 10 in Fiordland.³⁷ Nothing is taken from it, so the life along the walls is left as it is. By the end of a Milford Sound sightseeing cruise, as you round the last point and see the terminal again, you will have seen the fiord from both sides and from the sea, which is the whole point of the route.