We drove the route in our van and it is entirely possible to drive the route without a 4wd if you know your car and are an experienced driver. However, in my opinion, the viewpoint is not worth it. Taking the paved road to the 4wd sign is worth it for the view of the city. At the end of the 4wd road you still have a long walk down to the viewpoint - very steep. In the end you only get to see the rocks. The lighthouse is very unspectacular. Only position light, you can't really call it a lighthouse. Driving the long way and walking the steep way is not worth it at all. We didn't see any seals or dolphins, but there are much nicer spots for that too.

It's pretty steep up the road. From the gravel road is then a sign "only for 4 × 4 cars" ... A pity that there is no alternative way!

The place was nice but not worth for the 30min drive (from akaroa) on a bad gravel road with a lot of bumps.

Very nice, peaceful place We have a campervan without four-wheel drive and have come up the track without getting stuck. Nevertheless, one should be an experienced driver to dare such a track and know his car.

In any case note the signs !!!! Stick with our campervan.

The drive is not for the faint hearted.. We do not have a 4x4 and it was fine, just need a confident driver who knows their car!! Beautiful but steep walk, saw a seal colony mix of babies and juveniles, a few dead sheep and unfortunately a dead penguin ?

The gravel road is an adventure itself, we stopped at a certain point and just walked 1km. View is totally awesome!!! Peaceful

Road is very steep - only go if you have 4WD! But the views are beautiful and it's cool to see where the old lighthouse was

Access a bit difficult but the view is worth it! We saw dolphins, far enough certainly, but you can see quite well !!!

Magnificent view! We saw seals up close while doing the track on the side of the mountain! Alone with a whole colony playing in the water!! On the other hand, the road to get there is really difficult, don't go there in a Campervan!!