Queenstown water taxi service expanded - new timetable

The Otago Regional Council (ORC) has expanded Queenstown’s ferry service; with late night services extended to seven days a week and daytime services running every hour.

ORC’s General Manager Regional Planning and Transport Anita Dawe says the Lake Whakatipu ferry contract was awarded to new owners Watersports Ltd in July and provided an opportunity to expand services.

“Watersports has expanded the ferry timetable which allows us to offer people more options to travel by water in Queenstown.”Timetable improvements started on 4 July, with late services being offered seven nights a week, rather than three.  

“From today, services will expand further - running every hour between 8.15am and 9.45pm,” says Ms Dawe.

Watersports Ltd co-owner Iraj Barabi says, “We are delighted to have partnered with ORC to provide ferry services in Queenstown. Our entire team is mobilised to enhance all aspects of water transport in order to provide the public with a best-in-class transportation experience in a safe, reliable, and efficient manner. We will accomplish this with investing and employing all resources necessary to improve customer experience. Ferry passengers can expect better timeliness, expanded and more reliable services, more efficient processes, resulting in elevated customer satisfaction.”

Mr Barabi says, “In the limited time Watersports has taken over the ferry operations, we have extended the late-night service to seven days a week effective 4 July which has resulted in a 9% increase in patronage for the month.”

Ms Dawe says total patronage on the Queenstown Ferries service for the 2024/25 financial year was 71,123, a 4% decrease from the same period in 2023/24.

“However, while we have seen patronage slowly decrease since the withdrawal of half price fares in 2023, 2025 has markedly improved, with January to July patronage increasing by 4% compared to the previous year. We are optimistic the expanded timetable will drive higher passenger numbers for the rest of the year.”

Ferry pricing remains the same: $10 per person, per trip with a Bee Card, or $14 with a bank card (children under 5 travel for free and cash is not accepted).

New Queenstown Ferries timetable:

Queenstown to Hilton: hourly from 8.45am (first sailing) until 9.45pm (last sailing).
Hilton to Queenstown: hourly from 8.15am (first sailing) until 9.15pm (last sailing).

• Find Orbus ferry route and timetable information here.
• Find more information about Queenstown Ferries here.

Since January 2020, ORC oversaw a trial ferry service, previously partnering with RealNZ.  Watersports Ltd purchased the ferry service from RealNZ in May 2025 and are contracted to ORC on a permanent basis.