How would you rate the ferry ride between Wellington in the North Island and Picton on the South Island. I'm concerned about sea-sickness. Is the three-hour trip smooth or rough?
New Zealand Interisland Ferry
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I don't know about others, but our trip (month of January) was rough and I definitely suffered from sea-sickness. Fortunately, I expected it to be rough, so I had pre-medicated before we boarded.
We took the ferry in March and it was reasonably rough but not too bad - I too premedicated as was expecting the worst!
It all depends on the weather. I have been on very calm sailings, but the last one I went on last month was a wee bit rough. I was sitting in the front but moved to the middle of the boat and it was okay.
It takes an hour to get out of Wellington, an hour when you are in Cook Strait itself, and an hour in the Marlborough Sounds on the way to Picton. Normally if it is a bit rough you will only notice it for the hour in the Strait, however on occasion it can be rough in and out of Wellington as well.
It is a beautiful trip if the weather is calm. Unfortunately is hard to predict the weather.
Cook Strait is one of the world’s roughest stretches of water, when its extremely rough the ferries are normally canceled. Although rough crossings do occur. Most of the time, it would be fairly comfortable on the ferries.
I guess, the crossing would only be rough for 3-4 days out of every month on average.
We did it in Spring or Autumn (can't remember now, but neither the depths of winter nor high summer) and it was rock steady both ways. A very comfortable big ship, the m/v Kaitaki, InterIsland line.
Rather disappointing not to have a bit of sea wave action, really...
But this is one of the world's great scenic ferry crossings, a wonderful trip, so just go for it, don't miss out because you get obsessed with the possibility of sea sickness!
We use the Bluebridge ferry line these days, and find them well-stabilised ships. In all the 40-odd years of ferry trips I have been on, I think we have had less than 5 rough sailings. Admittedly most of our trips have been in January, with a few in July, so I can't vouch for the rest of the year. And we travel on the first ferry out in the morning, and the 6pm back to Wellington. It is a great trip so do take your 'sealegs' before travelling so you can enjoy it.
Bluebridge takes about 30 minutes longer than the Inter-Islander which isn't really a problem when you are on vacation!!
But it's the Interislander ferry that connects with the Coastal Pacific train from Picton to Chritschurch and on which the combined ferry + train tickets are valid from Wellington to Christchurch.