Motuara Island is a 59-hectare scientific reserve at the outer end of Queen Charlotte Sound, an hour by water taxi from Picton. It has been free of introduced predators since 1990 and is now one of the easiest places in New Zealand to see seriously rare native birds — South Island saddleback, Maud Island frogs (translocated), kakariki, and a population of South Island robins that follow visitors around the tracks looking for disturbed insects.
A guided walk up the bushed central ridge takes 90 minutes return and ends at a viewpoint with a panorama across the outer Sounds. Most water-taxi operators run combined trips with a stop here and a return via swimming with dolphins in nearby Ship Cove.