Lake Tekapo: 90-minute Hot Pools & Stargazing Experience

About This Experience

Soak in the Stars is run by Tekapo Star Gazing at Tekapo Springs, the hot pools complex at the foot of Mount John. Of the tours on this site it is the only one that ends in a hot pool, and that is the whole point: stargazing and a long soak in one 90-minute session.

The first part — around 50 minutes — is a guided astronomy tour with high-powered telescopes, covering planets, stars and galaxies along with astronomy and Māori star stories. Then you move to a pool reserved for the group, kept at about 38 °C, where you float in a hammock and keep looking up for roughly the last 35 minutes. Hot chocolate or green tea is included.

Alpine weather changes fast, and this tour is built around that. If cloud limits the telescopes, the guides switch to an immersive virtual-reality astronomy experience indoors instead of cancelling, and the soak goes ahead. If you end up with less than 30 minutes of telescope time, the listing guarantees a 25% partial refund.

Children under 10 are not permitted. Bring swimwear; towels and robes are provided on site.

Highlights

• Telescope stargazing followed by a soak in a 38 °C hot pool under the same sky
• Floating hammocks in the pool, so you can lie back and keep watching the stars
• Astronomy and Māori star stories from your guide
• Hot chocolate or green tea included
• Runs even when cloud rolls in, switching to an indoor virtual-reality sky show
• A 25% partial refund guaranteed if cloud cuts telescope time below 30 minutes

What's Included

• ✓ 90-minute guided stargazing, telescope and hot pool tour
• ✓ Use of high-powered telescopes
• ✓ Pool time in a hot pool reserved for the group
• ✓ Floating hammock for stargazing in the pool
• ✓ Hot chocolate or green tea
• ✓ Indoor virtual-reality astronomy experience when cloud limits the telescopes

Not Included

• Food
• Hotel pickup and drop-off

What to Bring

• Swimwear
• Warm clothes for the telescope part and for afterwards
• A hat for the pool on cold nights

Good to Know & Caveats

• Sky conditions at tour time decide whether guides run the telescopes outdoors or the indoor virtual-reality experience.
• If the indoor experience leaves you with less than 30 minutes of telescope time, you can claim a 25% refund through GetYourGuide.
• Cancellations and changes are allowed up to 24 hours before the tour.
• Minimum age is 10 years.
• The tour runs seven evenings a week from October to April and five evenings a week from May to September.

Meeting Point

Tekapo Springs, Lakeside Drive, Lake Tekapo — the hot pools complex at the foot of Mount John. The tour is run by Tekapo Star Gazing on site.