“White Heron Sanctuary Tours” is a family owned and operated business. Since tours to New Zealand’s only White heron colony commenced in 1987 the Arnold’s, a 4th generation family from Whataroa, have been providing visitors with this unique experience. Ken and Shirley Arnold, founding members and managing directors of the company live and work right on site and welcome all the visitors with the same West Coast hospitality and enthusiasm they have had since the first tour more than 26 years ago.   Dion Arnold their son and a tour guide grew up washing and polishing the mini vans and tour boat, and for over 17 years he has been guiding visitors from all round the world into the isolated White Heron nesting site. The informative tour the Arnolds deliver combining experienced staff with local knowledge is world class.   The Arnolds operate their business with a Department of Conservation (DOC) concession. This was initially a limited term trial concession, over the years with regular monitoring of the nesting birds, a more secure concession has been negotiated and in 2013 the Arnolds signed up on a 30 year term, one of the longest term limited supply concessions DOC have awarded in New Zealand. The Arnolds tour company, “White Heron Sanctuary Tours” is the only company with a DoC concession for visiting the White Heron colony, and therefore the only company permitted to visit the White Heron’s nesting site. The achievement of securing a 30 year concession is testimony to the Arnold’s devotion to conservation and their ability to deliver an outstanding world class experience for visitors to this area. We look forward to seeing you on our tours and are happy to provide you with any further information that you may require. Feel free to contact us. New Zealand Free phone: 0800 523 456 Email: info@whiteherontours.co.nz   

Dion, Shirley and  Ken Arnold