Two kinds of boat cross Lake Manapouri to West Arm. One is part of a Doubtful Sound day out and leaves when the cruise leaves; the other is a 14-seat water taxi that leaves when you ask it to, carries power-station crews and Dusky Track trampers, and publishes neither a timetable nor a fare.
No public timetable: Manapouri Water Taxi sails to West Arm by arrangement, any time of year it can be booked — checked 29 September 2026 Manapouri Water Taxi – West Arm · 2026-09-29
Set the two side by side and the difference is simple. RealNZ runs Lake Manapouri as the first stage of a longer journey: a cruise of about 45 minutes from Manapouri to West Arm, a coach over the Wilmot Pass and a boat on Doubtful Sound, all at fixed times and sold as one day. Manapouri Water Taxi runs the same water as point-to-point transport — about 33 km, around 50 minutes, at whatever hour you and the skipper agree.
The water taxi says it specialises in contractors, crew and staff travelling to and from the power station, and offers a quieter alternative to the tourist boats: flexibility rather than sightseeing, at a price given only when you ask.
Both land at the same wharf beneath the power station in Fiordland National Park. Then the cruise passenger climbs onto a coach, while the water taxi passenger is on their own at the end of a road that private vehicles cannot use.
Every water taxi trip is quoted separately, so there is no NZD figure for a table. The price depends on group size, one way or return, and how long the boat waits — the booking form asks for all of those. The operator does not say whether a quote includes GST, so ask.
The only published price on this water belongs to something else. RealNZ's Doubtful Sound Wilderness Cruise starts from $359 NZD for an adult and buys the lake crossing, a coach over Wilmot Pass and two and a half hours on the fiord: a day excursion that returns you to Manapouri, not the cost of getting to West Arm.
No published water taxi fare as of 29 September 2026; RealNZ cruise price as shown on its site the same day Manapouri Water Taxi – enquiries · 2026-09-29
Manapouri Water Taxi puts West Arm about 33 km from Pearl Harbour and the run at around 50 minutes; RealNZ times its larger cruise vessels at roughly 45 minutes for the same crossing. Both leave Pearl Harbour and cross the island-dotted lake to its western arm, where the station and the Wilmot Pass Road sit. Rain changes character on the way: RealNZ's figures give Manapouri village 1,143 mm a year and West Arm 3,786 mm, so pack for the far end, not the near one. Fiordland's other walker boat, the seasonal Glade Wharf transfer from Te Anau Downs, is a scheduled service with a fixed fare — the opposite arrangement to this one.
Pearl Harbour, in Manapouri township, serves both kinds of boat. The water taxi ties up at Jetty 14, and the operator's own map shows parking off View Street with a separate path down to the jetty. RealNZ passengers check in instead at the Manapouri Visitor Centre, 64 Waiau Street, at least 30 minutes before their cruise; RealNZ says there is free daytime parking beside the centre and overnight parking on View Street.
West Arm is where the lake ends and the hydro scheme begins: RealNZ describes the Manapouri Power Station as built inside the mountain here in the 1960s. The only road out is the Wilmot Pass Road, 21 km over a 671-metre summit to Deep Cove, and RealNZ says no private vehicle may use it. For a walker the useful features are DOC's West Arm Hut, six bunks, half an hour along that road, and the Dusky Track end sign-posted further up.
The water taxi will drop you at West Arm to start the Dusky Track or collect you at the end, at a time that suits you. DOC's track notes put West Arm about 45 minutes' walk from where the track meets the Wilmot Pass Road.
This is the work the water taxi says it specialises in: crews to or from the station, timed around shifts and flights rather than tour departures.
Book RealNZ: a water taxi to West Arm leaves you at the station without the coach to Deep Cove.
Adventurer One carries 14 passengers and one crew, with a toilet and heated cabin; the smaller Wilderness One takes five.
Phone 021 586 922, or send the booking form on the operator's website with dates, times and numbers. There is no online seat availability to check.
West Arm exists as a destination because of the power station: RealNZ says the Wilmot Pass Road was built in the 1960s to carry equipment for it, which is why a 21 km road over a mountain pass links a lake wharf to a fiord and nothing else. Visitors cross it only on RealNZ coaches; trampers walk it at the end of the Dusky Track.
That shapes who needs a water taxi. For Doubtful Sound, the cruise already includes the lake and the coach. For West Arm itself — a job at the station, the Dusky Track, or a crossing at a time the cruise schedule does not offer — the water taxi is the tool, booked like a charter: tell the operator where, when and how many, and get a quote.
Not one sold as a single ticket on the pages we read: RealNZ crosses daily as part of its Doubtful Sound cruises, and Manapouri Water Taxi goes by arrangement.
The operator does not publish a fare; it quotes per trip. Ask on 021 586 922 or through the booking form, and ask whether GST is included.
Around 50 minutes by water taxi for the roughly 33 km from Pearl Harbour, according to Manapouri Water Taxi. RealNZ times its cruise boats at about 45 minutes.
Only as far as West Arm. RealNZ says no private vehicles may use the Wilmot Pass Road to Deep Cove, so for Doubtful Sound book a RealNZ cruise.
Yes. Manapouri Water Taxi will drop Dusky Track trampers at West Arm and collect them there at a time that suits you. DOC calls the Dusky a difficult track for experienced trampers, so agree the pick-up day, and what happens if you are late, before you set off.
The water taxi leaves from Jetty 14 at Pearl Harbour, with parking reached from View Street. RealNZ cruise passengers check in at the Manapouri Visitor Centre, 64 Waiau Street.
Adventurer One, the main boat, is 9.8 metres long and takes 14 passengers plus one crew. The smaller Wilderness One takes five.