Rakiura Track booking guide for 2026/27

Bookings for each Great Walks season open on a single morning in May, one walk at a time. For 2026/27 the Rakiura opened at 9:30am NZST on 21 May 2026, the same morning as the Tongariro Northern Circuit. DOC runs a waiting lobby on opening morning: everyone who logs in before 9:30 is given a random place in the queue, so logging in early earns you nothing, but arriving after 9:30 puts you at the back.

The 2027/28 release will follow the same pattern, around the middle of May 2027, with exact dates announced on DOC's blog a few weeks ahead. Our guide to when Great Walks bookings open covers the full calendar.

The Rakiura has one big advantage here: because it's open all year, a sold-out summer isn't the end of the road. Autumn, winter and spring dates are bookable too, and cheaper.

1. Make a DOC account first. Set it up at bookings.doc.govt.nz before you need it. A booking can't be handed to another account holder later, so book under the person who'll manage the trip.
2. Pick your direction. DOC says the loop can be walked either way. The two starting points are the national park entrance at Lee Bay, 5 km from Oban, and the Fern Gully car park, 2 km beyond the visitor centre in Oban. Start at Lee Bay and your first night is Port William; start at Fern Gully and it's North Arm.
3. Choose your nights. The standard trip is one night at each hut. You can also camp: the Māori Beach, Port William and North Arm campsites each have a cooking shelter, water and a toilet, but they aren't next to the huts and campers can't use hut facilities. The maximum stay at any hut or campsite is 2 nights.
4. Add every person. Each person needs their own place on the booking, infants included. Ages are infant (0 to 4), child or youth (5 to 17) and adult (18 and over), and anyone 14 or under has to walk with an adult.
5. Pay, then check in. DOC asks you to bring a copy of your confirmation or call in at the Rakiura National Park Visitor Centre in Oban before you start. Carry photo ID that matches the name on the booking.

Then book the crossing. Oban, the island's only township, is a 20-minute flight from Invercargill or a 1-hour ferry across Foveaux Strait from Bluff. Neither is part of your DOC booking, so lock in your hut nights first and book the boat or plane around them. In Oban there are shuttles to Lee Bay, and water taxis can drop you at the huts, though boat access to North Arm depends on the tide.

The Rakiura is one of the few Great Walks priced by season. Prices are per person, per night in NZD, as listed on DOC's Rakiura fees page for the 2026/27 booking season.

Outside the summer band there's no international premium. A two-night hut trip for one adult between October and April comes to $88 on the NZ rate or $132 international; in July to September it's $62 for everyone. The NZ rate needs proof of eligibility, so book it only if you can show it.

Changing dates. You can move a booking to other dates in the same season, subject to availability, but you can't transfer it to someone else's account.

Cancelling. Great Walks cancellation fees are small well ahead of time and climb steeply in the last fortnight, reaching the full price on the day of arrival. Medical cancellations with a certificate are refunded, and if DOC closes the track you can ask for a refund of unused nights or new dates. Bad weather that doesn't close the track doesn't earn a refund, and that's worth knowing on an island where DOC warns strong winds, hail and heavy rain can arrive in any season.

No booking, no bed. Without a valid booking you may be charged a penalty, or turned away if the hut or campsite is full.

DOC has no waitlist. When someone cancels, their bunks go straight back on sale to whoever happens to be looking. On the Rakiura that happens for reasons no other Great Walk has: a rough Foveaux Strait or a grounded flight can scuttle a trip before it starts, and a lot of plans hinge on both. Because a full trip needs both huts on consecutive nights, one freed bunk can reopen a date that's looked full for weeks.

You do have to be looking at the right moment, and nobody wants to refresh a booking calendar from now until summer. Spotbagger does it for you. Set a watch on the Rakiura Track with your dates and party size, and we check the DOC booking system often and tell you when a full two-night loop opens up, in either direction. You book it yourself on DOC's site, then sort your crossing.

If summer stays stubbornly full, look at the shoulder months: the track is booked and serviced all year and the huts are cheaper from May. And if you're flexible on which Great Walk, our guide to NZ Great Walks that have sold out explains how cancellations behave across all of them.

Do you need to book the Rakiura Track?

Yes. DOC requires every hut and campsite on the Rakiura Track to be booked in advance all year round. Walking without a valid booking can mean a penalty, or being turned away if the hut or campsite is full.

How much does the Rakiura Track cost?

From 1 October to 30 April huts are $44 a night for NZ residents and $66 for international visitors, so a two-night hut trip is $88 or $132 per adult. Hut nights drop to $38 in May and June and $31 from July to September, the same for everyone. Your ferry or flight to Stewart Island is extra.

How do you get to the Rakiura Track?

Get to Oban on Stewart Island first, by a 20-minute flight from Invercargill or a 1-hour ferry from Bluff. From Oban it's 5 km to the Lee Bay entrance and 2 km past the visitor centre to the Fern Gully car park, and shuttles and water taxis run from town.

Is there a waitlist for the Rakiura Track?

No. DOC doesn't run waitlists. Cancelled places are released straight back onto the booking system, which is why a watch on your dates is the most reliable way to catch one.