4 Best Sights in Otago, Invercargill, and Stewart Island, New Zealand

Penguins at Friendly Bay might be present any time of the year, and tours and viewing opportunities run day and evening. There's a small visitor center on site with a shop and toilet facilities. The actual times penguins come ashore in the evening affects the nighttime hours, but the center opens every day at 5 pm. Access to the public beach is free.

The surf at this spot 9.5 km (6 miles) southeast of town is often too rough for swimming, but locals do swim in summer, and surfers and windsurfers take advantage of the wind and swells that whip the coast almost constantly. The annual Burt Munro Challenge in February sees motorcycles hurtle across the sand as riders pit their wits and machines against one another in honor of the local hero and motorcycle land speed record holder from whom the race gets its name. Amenities: none. Best for: solitude; surfing; walking; windsurfing.

The sea at Dunedin can be a little wild; in summer an area between flags is patrolled by lifeguards. St. Clair has some good surfing, and hosts some prestigious competitions. Don't be too spooked by the shark bell on the Esplanade: a fatal attack hasn't occurred for 50 years (although nonfatal attacks have occurred at least once a decade). Local residents show what they're made of at the annual "midwinter plunge" held on the beach at winter solstice. If the ocean is too cold for you, try the Hot Salt Water Pool at the southern end of the beach (NZ$7 admission). South of town is the Tunnel Beach Walkway, a sandstone tunnel cut in 1870 by Edward Cargill so that his family could get down to the pretty beach below (this walk is closed from August through October for lambing). Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking (free); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; walking.

The Mole, which splits the picturesque white-sand beach at the end of the Aramoana Peninsula, is a 1-km-long (½-mile-long) artificial breakwater protecting the entrance to Otago Harbour. A walk atop the breakwater is especially exciting when there is a big running sea. The beach and sand dunes to the east are known as Shelly Beach, while to the west, Big Beach extends for more than 2 km (about a mile). At points along this stretch, steep rock faces come down to the waterline and are popular with rock climbers. Seals can be found sun bathing on the rocks.