Overnight Experience Tour on Kapiti Island

Spend two full days on Kapiti Island, just off the Kapiti Coast, with an overnight stay in one of the world’s oldest sanctuaries. Free of predators and pests, the island offers a rare chance to stay on an otherwise uninhabited nature reserve and experience it beyond day visitor hours.

Your time here combines walking, wildlife, and the island’s human and ecological history. After check-in, a packed lunch is provided before you meet an experienced local guide at Rangatira. As you walk, your guide shares stories from the arrival of the first Māori through to the eradication of the last rat, while helping identify the flora and fauna around you. From Rangatira, you can climb Tuteremoana, Kapiti’s highest peak, or explore lower tracks through established New Zealand forest.

Later, you travel to Waiorua for the night. Drinks, nibbles, and a home cooked chef-prepared meal are followed by a guided night walk, when the island sounds and feels different after dark. In a cosy cabin, you may hear Kiwi, Weka, Kaka, and Ruru calling through the night.

The second day begins with a hot breakfast and fresh coffee as the sun rises over Waiorua Bay. You then have time to explore the Waiorua tracks on either a coastal or hill walk before a hot lunch and afternoon departure.