Meet New Zealand's wildlife in the heart of Hokitika
See kiwi, tuatara and giant eels up close — and catch a crawly!
Open daily 9am–5pm · Eel feeding 10am, 12pm & 3pm
- Indoors — rain or shine
- No booking needed
- Under 5s free
Meet our animals
Five New Zealand natives, all under one roof.
Kiwi
See our kiwi up close in their nocturnal house.
Feeding: straight after eel feeding
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Giant eels
Longfin eels found only in NZ – some over 80 years old.
Feeding: 10am, 12pm & 3pm daily
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Tuatara
NZ's "living dinosaur", with roots 200 million years old.
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Kōura
Have a go at our hook-free catch-and-release pond.
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Whitebait
See a shoal of the West Coast's famous delicacy.
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Ilja Zonnenberg
We had a great time at this lovely aquarium. The thing we loved is that they don't have tons of small tanks stuffed up with fish, but just a few very beautifull and large tanks with plenty of room for the fish and with plenty of room for visitors to see them. Also the kiwi area was the best one we've seen so far. We could really watch the kiwi's do their thing for a long time. Really enjoyed that. Thanks for this beautiful place and the love you put in here!
Steffi N
Passed by here more or less on accident, glad I made the stop! Spent about 1,5 hours including feeding the eels and catching craw fish. Cool seeing a real kiwi bird. You are not allowed to take pictures in there but they give you a great printed photo
Zeph
We had a great experience and time at the centre. It was fascinating seeing the couple of Kiwi birds in their enclosure. Watching eels feed was great too.
OPENING HOURS:
Monday-sunday 9:00am - 5pm
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing
Eel Feeding Times: 10.00am, 12.00pm and 3.00pm every day
Kiwi Feeding Times: Follows Eel feeding
Admission Prices:
| Adult | $39.00 |
| Child | $21.00 (5-16 years) |
| Family | $101.00 (2 adults and up to 3 children 5-16 years) |
| Bookings not necessary |
Children under 5 years are Free.
Group deals are available on request.
School Group Education tours available on request.