Star Gazing Lake Tekapo

*** Some Of Our Tours Start After Midnight. Please Check Consecutive Dates For More Availability. *** *** Please Ensure You Are Booking For the Correct Date. ***



The Short:

Our 75-minute stargazing tour includes private access to some of the darkest and most accessible locations around Lake Tekapo. It is a mixture of naked-eye visual stargazing, learning about the brighter stars and important constellations, learning how to navigate using the night sky, telescope observations, a free individual photograph of you standing under the stars, and an introduction to the scientific field of astronomy.

Ticket options: Adult (16 years +) - $99 Child (3 - 15 years) - $69 (We recommend only booking children onto the earlier tours of the night) Family Ticket (2a + 2c) - $299 Infants under 3 years old are allowed on some of our tours, read below for more details
The Long:

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Come and discover the wonders of the night sky on our 75-minute experience; including at least 60 mins under the stars with one of our epic guides. We use powerful 14” telescopes for awesome views of various deep space objects and special astro-lasers for easy naked-eye viewing of important stars and constellations. At the end of your journey through our night sky, your guide will take a photo of your individual groups under the stars (Weather Dependent), capturing that picture-perfect moment. And our gift to you! Within 48 hours we will upload your photo onto our public Flickr website and then email you a link to download your digital copy of your photo so you can share it with your family and friends, and of course on social media.
But wait, we’re not done. The perks of our tours keep on coming! We cap our tours at 10 people so our ratio of telescopes to guests is tiny; one of the lowest in the Tekapo region. This means that everyone will have plenty of time on the telescopes and opportunities to ask our guide questions. Have kids? AWESOME. We are super passionate about sharing the night sky with the kiddos, any age can join our tours including infants. We have a limit of 1 infant per tour and they must be booked onto our earliest departure of the night, please get in touch with us directly before making a booking that includes an infant so that we can check availability.
Our stargazing locations are super dark, with some of the lowest light pollution in Tekapo. We’re pretty pumped to run our tours from within the gold-rated Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, some of the darkest skies on the entire planet.
Please note: Your credit card will be charged in NZD.
For our cancellation policy please read our Terms & Conditions.
Our Stargazing Tour Includes: Complimentary transport to/from the Silver River Stargazing office in Tekapo to the stargazing site located just minutes away from Lake Tekapo Township Use of our toasty warm down jackets A guided tour of the night sky Use of our 14” modern telescopes Small group tours Little to no light pollution Vast 360° views of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve A free photo taken under the stars for you to share with a digital link made available.

Get involved in a world class astrophotography experience!

The location of our astrophotography tour is truly stunning. Get ready for pure darkness and incredible 360° views over 50,000-acres of farmland nestled in the gold-rated Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. This tour is pure magic if you are wanting to learn or extend your astrophotography skills.

Learn how to take jaw dropping pictures using our telescopes and digital cameras or even better bring along your own camera and if we can use it, we will. Tours will be customized depending on the weather and what you want to learn. This could include wide-angle imagery of the night sky, imagery of the Milky Way or constellations, capturing star trails or night-time lapse animations and to top it all off we will also help you process the images post-capture!

Our fully guided 3-hour experience departs nightly with a maximum of 4 adults. This tour is downright essential if you want to sharpen your astrophotography skills and is suitable for beginners through to advanced.

Please note: Your credit card will be charged in NZD. Astrophotography tours are limited to adults (16+) only. If using your own camera, then you will already have any image/s you take however if using our camera, we will provide you with your post capture image/s via a download link. We will occasionally use these photos on our social media platforms and website to showcase the tour experience. Participation in tour photos is voluntary.

For our cancellation policy please read our Terms & Conditions .

The Astrophotography Tour Includes: Transport to / from the Silver River office in Tekapo to the astrophotography site 15 minutes away. Fully guided tour with one of our experienced guides. Use of our toasty warm down jackets. Use of our telescopes, camera, and equipment. Tours capped at 4 adults. Little to no light pollution. Vast 360°views over the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. If using our camera, you will receive the processed photos via a digital download link.

Please note that the availability will be on request, kindly email hello@silverriver.co.nz to confirm the date is available for you to book the tour. Thank you!

The Short:

This is it, this is stargazing the way it was always meant to be enjoyed. No big crowds, no standing in line waiting for your turn on the telescope and no competing with other people for the guides attention.
It's just you, your guide, and the night sky.
A 120-minute premium tour of the night sky, the tour can be personalised to involve a mix of naked-eye visual stargazing, learning about the brighter stars and important constellations, telescope observations and a free individual photograph under the stars. Enjoy the wonders of the night sky from the comfort of our premium moon chairs whilst snacking from a platter of nibbles and keeping warm with a hot drink.


The Long:
Experience the captivating cosmos like never before on our Ultimate Stargazing tour, a 2-hour personalised stargazing experience with one of our expert guides. We use special astro-lasers for easy naked-eye viewing of important stars and constellations and a powerful 16” telescope for incredible views of amazing deep space and solar system objects. Your guide will also take photos of you under the stars (Weather Dependent). Within 24 hours, we will have uploaded your photos into a private Google Drive folder where you can download your photo and share it with friends and family.
We cap our tours at 10 people which means that everyone will have plenty of time on the telescopes and opportunities to ask our guide questions.
The tour includes a platter of nibbles* to satisfy your appetite and a selection of delicious hot drinks to keep you warm under the stars.
We will pick you up from your accommodation** and shuttle you to our Ultimate Stargazing site. All of our stargazing locations are super dark, with some of the lowest light pollution in Tekapo. We have the pleasure of being able to run our tours from within the gold-rated Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, some of the darkest skies on the entire planet.
Please note: Your credit card will be charged in NZD.
For our cancellation policy please read our Terms & Conditions.
Our Stargazing Tour Includes:
A personalised guided tour of the night sky
Use of our 16” modern telescope
Small group tours
Use of our warm down jackets
A platter of snacks and a selection of hot drinks
Pick-up and drop-off from your accommodation within Lake Tekapo
Use of comfortable moon chairs and cosy Merino wool blankets
Little to no light pollution
Vast 360° views of the dark skies of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve
Free photos taken under the stars for you to share via a digital link.


Our Private Tours are available on request and subject to availability. The tour costs $3000 for a group of up to 10 guests, the price for any additional guests is $99 per person.


*Platters are subject to availability and may not cater to last-minute bookings. Dietary requirements should be advised in your bookings if required.
**Pick-up services are only applicable within Tekapo township.