relax & soak
Enjoy exclusive use of your private 37.5–38.5°C hot pool and let the real world melt away as you lie back and gaze up at the southern night sky. Your guide is poolside throughout, sharing stories, answering questions, and pointing out the celestial features visible above. A pool wheelchair is available on request.
Start times for our stargazing experiences are seasonal to ensure the darkest skies.
Please note children under 10 years of age are not permitted on this tour. Children aged 6–10 are welcome on our Scope at the Stars tour.
Discover Tā Mātou Mōhiotanga Māori
Our Māori Knowledge
Our celestial journey deepens with timeless Māori legends woven into the starlight. As you explore the southern skies through the telescopes, your guide will introduce you to the Māori astronomy that helped navigate the vast Pacific Ocean – the stars as a living compass, calendar, and guide to daily life.
Then, as you settle into the soul-warming waters of your hot pool, the stories continue. The pool is where our guides go deeper into Māori legends – sharing sacred tales such as the Creation Story of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, and the legendary fishing voyage where Māui and his brothers lifted Te Ika-a-Māui (the North Island) from the ocean using Te Matau-o-Māui (Māui’s magical fishhook).
We also introduce Te Kapo, the taniwha guardian of Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island), watching over these waters with ancestral strength. As night settles, we honour Matariki, the Pleiades (the seven sisters) and recount the haunting myth of Tawhitiamatea, atua o te hau (god of the wind), who tore out his eyes, planting them in the chest of Ranginui to birth the Matariki cluster.
These stories are more than myths – they’re navigational guides. The Soak in the Stars tour is the only Tekapo Stargazing experience that includes this extended poolside storytelling alongside the telescope’s astronomy component.
Indoor Virtual Reality (VR) Experience
When weather conditions limit telescope viewing, guests continue their experience indoors with our immersive Virtual Reality experience. Through immersive 360° visuals, captured right here in Lake Tekapo, and guide-led storytelling, you’ll explore the Tekapo night sky from some of the region’s most iconic locations, including the Church of the Good Shepherd and the Mt John summit. We’ll explore constellations, deep-sky objects and Māori astronomy from a different perspective. It’s a different way to experience the southern night sky, with close-up views and guided interpretation that add to what you would normally see through a telescope.
On VR nights, the hot pool experience continues as normal – your time in the pool and the stories shared there are not affected by the weather.
NIGHTLY TOURS
Star Gazing Tours operate from the Tekapo Springs facilities. Check-in is at Tekapo Springs Reception, 300 Lakeside Drive, Lake Tekapo. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start time of your tour. Our evenings can be very cold – we recommend enclosed shoes, trousers and a warm jacket.
Tours run 7 evenings a week from October until April, and 5 evenings a week (Thursday–Monday) from May until September.
