Since 1918 a boat has carried the post from Havelock to homes in Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere that have no road. Today it is the catamaran Pelorus Express, leaving Pier B at Havelock Marina at 10am on mail-run days and back around 4.30pm. Visitors can ride the whole loop as a day cruise, or get off at a bay, lodge or track and be collected on a later run.
Pelorus Mail Boat timetable on its website, no end date given; checked 26 October 2026 Pelorus Mail Boat – transfers and schedule · 2026-10-26
The mail came first. The Pelorus Mail Boat has carried post by water to people around Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere since 1918, and it still delivers groceries, farm supplies and freight to homes that have no road. Passengers were added along the way, and today the operator sells two things on the same sailing: a day on the full mail run, and a one-way transfer to a bay, lodge, holiday home or track.
Both ride on the Pelorus Express. The previous owners had the 15-metre catamaran built in the district in 2017, after their old boat had done 30 years' service; it has room for 99 people plus the mail, a ramp so passengers can step off onto a beach, and purpose-made racks for kayaks and bikes.
Each mail day follows a different route. On Mondays the boat works the inner and eastern bays; on Fridays it heads for the islands and Port Ligar near the outer Sound. The departure is always 10am from Pier B at Havelock Marina, and the boat is usually home around 4.30pm.
Two kinds of ticket share the same boat. The day cruise rides the whole mail run and comes back to Havelock with the boat; the operator lists it at $145 for an adult on both its weekday and summer weekend pages. A transfer is a one-way seat to or from a particular bay, priced per person each way, but the operator's own pages disagree on the adult figure, one showing $55 and two showing $60, so we do not print either: ask for the fare when you book.
Gear has its own small charges, the same on every transfer page: one bag of up to 20kg travels free, extra bags and bikes are $5 each way, e-bikes and kayaks $10, and kayaks only go on the 10am service. Under-fives travel free on transfers. Dogs may come on a transfer but not on the mail-run cruise.
| Adult, Havelock and back | $ 145 |
| Bike | $ 5 |
| E-bike | $ 10 |
| Kayak (10am service only) | $ 10 |
| Each extra bag, up to 20 kg | $ 5 |
Pelorus Mail Boat website, prices in NZD as shown; read 26 October 2026 Pelorus Mail Boat – the Mail Run Cruise · 2026-10-26
Havelock sits at the head of Pelorus Sound/Te Hoiere, and the mail run works outwards from there. The operator describes the Sound as three times the size of Marlborough's other main sounds, which is why each mail day takes a different line through it rather than visiting every bay.
Walkers heading for the Nydia Track can travel out with their gear; Nydia Bay is on the operator's Wednesday transfer list. The Queen Charlotte Track boat transfer from Picton is the equivalent service for the other big Sounds walk.
The booking office and boarding point are at Pier B, a short walk from Havelock's main street on State Highway 6. Everyone checks in at 9.30am so the mail can be loaded and the boat can leave on time. The marina car park is pay and display, and the operator suggests leaving extra time to find a space in summer.
There is no single terminal at the far end. The boat calls at the jetties of the people and lodges it serves that day, from the inner Sound to islands such as Forsyth and Pohuenui, and transfer passengers are put ashore at whichever landing they booked. Waterproof your luggage: bags are passed from the boat to jetties in any weather.
The operator asks every passenger to be at Pier B half an hour before the 10am departure so the day's mail can go out on time.
There is no food sold on board beyond tea, coffee and water, which are free; Havelock has cafés, a bakery and a small supermarket.
Use a waterproof liner for your bag. Bulky freight such as outboard motors may be charged and is loaded at the skipper's discretion.
If you have rented a boat-access house, tell the office when you book; the crew can help pinpoint the right jetty.
Cancellations are rare in the sheltered Sound. You can change a booking up to 24 hours ahead, and a weather cancellation brings a new date or a refund.
Is this a ferry or a cruise? Both, which is why the timetable looks thin. For residents and anyone staying at a boat-access bach it is the scheduled link with Havelock; for visitors it is a day out with commentary, dolphins if luck allows, and the odd dog waiting on a jetty for the post. On the operator's summer weekend runs no mail is carried, but its pages do not agree on whether that is Saturday or Sunday.
Further east in the Sounds, the French Pass and D'Urville Island boat is the other link we cover for places at the end of long gravel roads or none at all.
Mondays and Fridays on every page of the operator's site; Wednesdays are listed on the transfer and cruise pages, so check when booking.
Yes. That is what its transfers are for: you choose the landing and the day you want collecting, and the boat picks you up on a later run.
Yes: the operator offers to carry walkers and their bikes or kayaks for it, and Nydia Bay appears on its transfer schedule. Confirm the day when booking.
$145 for an adult. Bring your own lunch; tea and coffee are on the house.
Yes, on transfers: $5 for a bike, $10 for an e-bike or a kayak, each way. Kayaks only travel on the 10am service.
The operator accepts passengers without a booking if seats remain, and transfers can be arranged on the day, but summer runs fill up.
On transfers, yes; on the mail-run cruise, no.