Wellington to the South Island: Cook Strait Ferry or Flight?

The two ferry operators

Two companies sail Cook Strait between Wellington and Picton: Interislander and Bluebridge. Both quote about three and a half hours for the crossing, as does the regional tourism organisation's guide to getting to Marlborough.

Interislander's Wellington terminal is at Kaiwharawhara, north of the central city, with a free shuttle from Platform 10 at Wellington Railway Station leaving 70 minutes before each sailing between 7:30am and 7:20pm. Bluebridge sails Livia and Connemara from its own Wellington terminal, so check which terminal your booking uses.

This table compares what each operator asks of a foot passenger.

Neither operator's clock starts at departure time. Interislander closes check-in 60 minutes before sailing for foot passengers and at the Wellington vehicle terminal alike; Bluebridge closes check-in an hour out too. Add the shuttle or drive to the terminal at one end and the walk of about 400 metres, including steps, at Picton, and a three-and-a-half-hour sailing becomes a five- to six-hour block of your day.

What the crossing is like

The sailing is in three parts: Wellington Harbour, the open strait, then the Marlborough Sounds. Interislander notes on its sailing conditions page that the harbour and Sounds legs are calmer than Cook Strait itself.

The Sounds section is the reason a lot of travellers choose the ferry over a 30-minute flight. The ship threads between steep bush-covered ridges and drowned valleys on the run into Picton, close enough to shore that it reads as scenery rather than transit, and you can stand on deck for it.

Cook Strait in the middle is the rough part. Interislander describes the strait as one of the most changeable stretches of water in the world, worst when wind blows against the tidal current. If you are prone to motion sickness, take something before boarding rather than after, and sit low and mid-ship where you can see the horizon.

Taking a car across

A vehicle can only cross Cook Strait on the ferry, which settles the question for anyone driving. What is not settled is whether your rental car is allowed on board.

Bluebridge's rental car page lists which companies permit their vehicles to sail and which do not. Europcar, Hertz, Thrifty, Dollar and Ace (when you are changing islands) are listed as not travelling on board; Avis, Budget, Go Rentals, Omega, APEX, Enterprise, Ezi, Scotties, Snap, Sixt, Mode, Bargain and Hireace are listed as permitting it. Policies change, so confirm with your rental company in writing before you book a vehicle space.

• Swap cars instead. With the companies that do not cross, you drop the car in Wellington, walk on as a foot passenger, and collect a different car in Picton. This often costs less than a vehicle space and avoids one-way island fees on the ferry booking.
• Keep the same car. With a company that allows crossing, you book a vehicle space by length and drive on. Bluebridge places no luggage limit on passengers travelling with a vehicle, since bags stay in the car.
• Getting between terminals in Picton. Bluebridge runs a free courtesy shuttle from its Picton terminal to rental offices at the Interislander terminal, leaving an hour before sailings.
• Campervans and trailers. Both operators price by vehicle length, and Bluebridge takes trailers only on an A-frame. Measure before booking, because an under-declared length can be re-charged at check-in.

Vehicle spaces sell out on peak-season sailings and around public holidays well before foot passenger seats do, so book the vehicle first and fit the rest of the day around the sailing you get.

Onward from Picton

Picton is a small port town, not a transport hub, so the connection you can make out of it shapes the whole plan. The Coastal Pacific train runs south to Christchurch via Blenheim and Kaikōura, and it runs seasonally.

Great Journeys NZ says on its Picton station page that the train departs Picton at 1:40pm, that its check-in desk inside the Interislander terminal opens from 10am and closes at 1:20pm, and that you must be back on the platform by 1:25pm. The service runs long weekends in spring, October to December, and daily through summer, December to April. Tickets are not sold at the station.

InterCity coaches also serve Picton, the alternative outside the train's season and the practical option for Nelson. If your ferry arrives in the evening, plan to sleep in Picton and travel on in the morning.

Flying instead of sailing

Flights from Wellington reach far more of the South Island than the ferry does, and they do it in under two hours in the air. Air New Zealand quotes about 55 minutes for Wellington to Christchurch and about 1 hour 25 minutes non-stop for Wellington to Queenstown.

For the top of the South Island, Sounds Air flies Wellington to Blenheim and Wellington to Picton in about 30 minutes each, and Wellington to Nelson in about 45 minutes. Destination Marlborough describes Marlborough Airport at Blenheim as a 20-minute flight from Wellington, served by Air New Zealand and Sounds Air.

This table compares typical air times on the main Wellington routes.

The airport clock is much kinder than the ferry's. Air New Zealand closes domestic check-in 30 minutes before departure, or 60 minutes if you are connecting to an international flight or a child is travelling alone.

Baggage is where small aircraft bite. Sounds Air allows 20kg per passenger per one-way journey including carry-on, with excess charged at NZD 3 per kilogram and no guarantee that oversize items travel; bikes, skis and boards are not carried at all on its Pilatus PC-12 routes. Air New Zealand's carry-on limits are 7kg in Economy and 55 x 40 x 23cm, with the depth reduced to 22cm on its smaller Q300 aircraft. Two large suitcases and a pram are a straightforward ferry booking and an expensive regional flight booking.

When the wind stops everything

Strong winds close Cook Strait and disrupt Wellington's airport in the same weather, so neither option is a safe hedge against the other. What differs is what happens next.

If a sailing is cancelled, Bluebridge's FAQ says you can be rebooked on the next available sailing or refunded, with compensation for reasonably foreseeable costs under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 — but events outside the operator's control are generally excluded. Interislander's refunds and compensation page is explicit that weather and adverse sea conditions sit outside that scope. In plain terms: a wind cancellation gets you a seat on a later ferry or your fare back, not your hotel bill.

Both operators contact affected passengers directly by text and email, and both publish a live service alerts page. Add your mobile number to the booking, not just an email address, and check the alerts before you leave for the terminal.

Working out which costs less

Cost comparison on this route turns on how many people are travelling and whether a vehicle is involved, not on the headline fare. Fares move with season, demand and fare type on both the ferries and the airlines, so price your exact dates rather than trusting a remembered figure.

Build the comparison as a total, not a ticket price:

• Ferry total: passenger fares, plus a vehicle space priced by length if you are driving, plus any extra bags, plus parking or the shuttle at the Wellington end.
• Flight total: airfare, plus checked bag fees, plus the airport transfer at both ends, plus a rental car booked separately in the South Island if you are not bringing one.
• The car-swap option: two shorter rental hires plus foot passenger fares, which removes the vehicle space but may add one-way or relocation fees.
• Time as a cost: a ferry day usually rules out doing anything else with that day; a flight often leaves you half a day at the far end.

Once you have both totals, look at the fare conditions attached to the cheaper one.

Before you book either ticket

Check three things on the operator's own page for your travel date, because all three move: the sailing or flight times for that specific day, the current fares and fare conditions, and whether the Coastal Pacific is running if you plan to use it. Then confirm your rental company's Cook Strait policy directly with them.

This article does not cover fares, seasonal timetables beyond the sailings published today, freight vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, or accessibility arrangements in detail — request assistance when booking, as both ferry operators ask you to.