Big Sky Stargazing Mt Cook Review

An interesting 1.5 hours but overpriced for the content especially if you already have some knowledge of the skies and constellations. Their experienced guides will introduce you to the beautiful southern night sky with a full hour tour using the naked eye, astro-binoculars and state of the art 14″ and 11″ astronomy telescopes. Our experienced guides will introduce you to our beautiful southern night sky with a full hour using the naked eye, astro-binoculars and state of the art 14″ and 11″ astronomy telescopes. Our informative astronomy guides then take you on a short drive to our outdoor stargazing site. Use telescopes, astronomy binoculars and the naked eye to put your newly acquired knowledge into practice, identifying and exploring different elements of the spectacular southern sky. Our resident astronomy guides, Kate, Igor & Brad, will take you on a 1 hour tour of the night sky through high powered telescopes.

They should have at least partially refunded us as no way we would have paid this amount to sit in a planetarium and watch a presentation. I would advise you to download an app and point it at the sky to tell you what you’re looking at – we did that on other clear nights and I was much happier with that. You can get a clear sky in many locations in NZ and not just in Mount Cook.

Table of Contents

Star gazing

Even coming from Regional Australia, it was worth seeing. Begin with an introduction and orientation in our Digital Dome Planetarium highlighting the unique features of our southern night sky. All participants are presented with an impressive, digital photograph of themselves against the night sky. Please note, photos of participants are dependent on guide numbers and weather conditions and are not guaranteed. Available on a clear night, the tour takes place close to the Hermitage hotel.

All you need is some basic knowledge of stars, constellations and movements. Amazing stargazing tour with Brad as our really knowledgeable friendly guide. Hot chocolate, amazing warm duvet coat, a warm blanket and an amazing informative tour of the milky way right above us.

Booking for Big Sky Stargazing

92% of travellers recommend this experience. 100% of travellers recommend this experience. 96% of travellers recommend this experience.

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Take a flight through the Galaxy in the World’s largest Gold Tier Dark Sky Reserve

The sky was luckily clear that February night and we were able to see and learn so much! Every night is a unique experience with stars, planets, the moon and satellites constantly moving as our Earth orbits in space. Every night is a unique experience with stars, planets, the Moon and satellites constantly moving as our Earth orbits in space. Big Sky Stargazing Mt Cook (0.0 miles) – Mount Cook is far from the city lights and therefore has some of the darkest skies in New Zealand – …

This number is based on the percentage of all Tripadvisor reviews for this product that have a bubble rating of 4 or higher. 100% of travelers recommend this experience. Awesome experience even my both my kids, 10 & 12 out there in the cold! We got to see so many stars we don’t usually see due to light pollution.

Recommendations and reviews

It was a cloudy night so instead of the outdoor gazing we were taken in for a planetarium show. While the show was very good, it is not at all comparable to outdoor stargazing. The knowledge that the guides have is un believable. It was cloudy so the guides did a beautiful show in the planetarium and still took us outside afterwards extending the tour for us and took us outside aswell because we wanted to see the stars. We could see portions of the sky threw the clouds and there was so many stars.

They share their knowledge about the night sky in an informative and approachable way, answering any questions you may have as they go. I’ve only been stargazing in the northern hemisphere, so the sky was quite different here. This tour supposedly introduces the Southern Hemisphere night sky, starting with a planetarium presentation then a short field trip to an open-air sky viewing terrace, with telescopes. We booked onto the star gazing hoping that the sky would be clear and aware that if it wasn’t there would be an indoor alternative.

Recommendations from Mikmik V.

Guests are shuttled to the base and are treated to home made hot chocolate and sweet treats, before stepping outside to witness the darkness as it comes alive with the stars. The darkness of the night sky around Aoraki/Mount Cook is unbeatable – it’s official! Let the team at Big Sky Stargazing introduce you to the wonders above. The 4367sq km Gold Status Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is the largest in the world and for this tour, you will be the centre of it all.

The whole experience from start to finish was under an hour and the charges of $ 99 per person is atrociously high. I wouldn’t pay anymore than $ 50 for the whole thing. Yes you do see lot of star constellations; the guide was good; but on hindsight, you can get the same views anywhere from Mt Cook region.

Star gazing – Big Sky Stargazing

Disappointed that our tour was limited to the planetarium film show and a walk past the hotel car park. There was only very light drizzle during the evening so why we didn’t go to the viewing area where the telescopes were sighted we really don’t know, We had made a special journey to Mt Cook for the one night. Trying to view the night sky even with some cloud next to the hotel with all its light pollution proved almost impossible and spoilt the whole experience. The organisers need to appreciate that tourists travel 1000’s of miles for a once in a lifetime experience and do not want to be disappointed.

The darkness of the night sky around Aoraki Mt Cook is unbeatable – it’s official! The 4367sq km Gold Status Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve is the largest in the world and for this tour you will be the centre of it all. Take a mesmerizing journey through the cosmos as you explore the wonders of the night sky, home to planets, stars and a whole other world we only dream about. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. The dark sky reserve opens a door to a world few are lucky enough to see.

Great Alpine Highway

We had a better star gazing experience in the Tongariro national park. So I would say save your money and don’t bother booking this tour as we regretted it later on. We went to the Hermitage Hotel and were told we may not have a clear sky view but we would go in the coach to do stargazing anyway.