Awarua Guides

On an adventure with Awarua Guides you will experience catching the best Fiordland wild foods, plus the added opportunity to be involved in preparing and creating a variety of dishes.

Whitebait, a local & Kiwi delicacy is caught fresh from the ocean as they run into the rivers during the spring months. Our family caught Fiordland Whitebait is some of the best on offer due to the pristine rivers and environment in which it is caught.

Red Deer were introduced to New Zealand by acclimatisation societies in 1851. There numbers boomed to pest proportions in these rich wild lands, and by the 1930’s the NZ State Forrest Service introduced a bounty to professional hunters and over 1,000,000 deer were eradicated by foot. Next emerged an incredible wild venison industry hunting by plane,  on foot and by helicopter to export this quality & organic meat source. Helicopters began capturing live deer in an astounding fashion  to fill a developing farming industry in a pioneering time unique to New Zealand. The Fiordland mountains during these times were alive with helicopters, hunters and heroic stories.

Lift off with Awarua Guides from our base camp to enjoy scenic flights, explore remote waves, trout fish and experience the incredible surrounding landscapes.

A scenic flight into Milford sound is an incredible and unforgetable experience.

Awarua Guides offer the opportunity to access incredible wild brown trout fishing in the cleanest of New Zealand waters.

SImple reason why Fiordland is know Ata Whenua or Shadow lands. Described in the famous Film Ata Whenua - Fiorland on FIlm, as mysterious, evocative, exhilarating and utterly spectacular. Check out http://fiordlandcinema.co.nz/ata-whenua-shadowland

Whether you are looking for an amazing cold water surfing experience to NZ's most remote locations, or an unforgetable scenic adventure, the Fiordland Mountais in winter offer the most incredible and unforgetable back drop.

Surfing success is all about attitude, come with the perfect attitude towards adventure and you'll find perfect conditions.

Considered to be the world’s largest fuschia plant, the tree fuschia (or kotukutuku) loves Fiordland’s abundant rainfall and damp rainforests. The plant grows up to 12 metres tall, and can form a trunk over 1 metre in diameter – there’s nothing dainty about the tree fuschia! Its flowers are rich in nectar and are visited by honey-eating birds, especially bellbirds, tui and silvereyes. https://tripsandtramps.com/news/fiordland%E2%80%99s-flora-%E2%80%93-fiordland-hiker%E2%80%99s-guide

Black fantails are mainly black, with black-brown over the rump, belly and flight feathers, and occasionally have a white spot over each ear. Note that black morph fantails never have white on their tail feathers. Juvenile black fantails tend to be more dark brown than black. Black fantails are rare in the North Island, and make up less than 5% of individuals across the South Island. http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/new-zealand-fantail

If your looking for any surfing equipment in Dunedin, drop by Hydro surf and catch up with Leroy,  he'll have heaps of helpful advise and might even point you in the direction of some great waves.

Awarua Guides offer authentic wilderness adventure, here our guests John & Pete enjoy a perfect lunch break.

Known to the original Māori inhabitants as Te Wāi Pounamu – the greenstone waters, the 2.6 million hectare site covers almost 10% of New Zealand’s total land area. It encompasses four national parks: Westland Tai Poutini, Aoraki/Mount Cook, Mount Aspiring and Fiordland.

Deep water abruptly meeting a shallow reef creates one of our best waves. The name was influenced by Graeme Mitchell after his discovery of lost gold mining remains in the surrounding native forest. Our home wave can produce magical conditions and great waves in large and small swells.

Awarua Guides offer a unforgettable start to your adventure with an incredible helicopter flight through the Southern Alps of New Zealand to the remote West Coast. Fly with the friendliest and most knowledgeable pilots in the industry. Flight options depart from Queenstown, Milford Sound & Haast.

Glide along the long walls of the Awarua point breaks. Surfing Awarua is a visseral and asthetic experience getting you back to the roots of surfing with a wilderness experience. Best shared with old or new friends.

Enjoy an amazing helicopter flight with Awarua Guides through the Southern Alps, what a way to start an incredible experience, when you touch down you will be four days walk from the nearest road and ready to hike, surf, SUP, snorkel to your hearts content amongst some of NZ greatest wilderness. Photo: Matt Dunbar.

New Zealand’s glaciers are fed by snow carried on the moisture-laden winds in the stormy latitudes known as the roaring forties. East of the main divide in the Southern Alps, up to 20 metres of fresh snow may be added each year to the upper Tasman and Hooker glaciers. Even greater volumes fall on the western side of the Southern Alps. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/glaciers-and-glaciation/page-1

Awarua Guides offer bespoke adventures to some of New Zealand best wilderness, you have the opportunity to tailor the adventure with scenic additions to your adventure to suit you.

Jordy Lawyer gets airborne. We first started visiting this spot in the 1980's, long before we ever saw anyone surf it, we dreamt about what was possible here, in 2016 and Jordy Lawyer & the team showed us what was.  Photo: Warrick Mitchell

Jumping into the Fiordland and West Coast sunset is a remarkable snorkeling experinece with Awarua Guides.