Clyde: Clyde Dam Tour Inside a Working Hydro Power Station

Go behind the scenes of Clyde Dam, New Zealand's only hydro dam open to public guided tours inside. Cross the wall, explore hidden galleries and step inside a turbine.
Still waters. Moving stories. Power you can feel

Standing inside an enormous concrete wall, with a lake on the other side, puts things into perspective.

At Clyde Dam in Central Otago, you can do just that. New Zealand’s third-largest hydroelectric dam is also the only one in the country open to public guided tours inside. And the access might surprise you.

A hard hat. A high-vis vest. A whole new perspective.

Clyde Dam Tours takes you behind the scenes of Contact Energy’s working hydroelectric power station on Mata-au, the Clutha River. Meet the people at the controls, explore passages hidden within the wall and get surprisingly close to the machinery that turns a river’s energy into renewable electricity.

After your safety briefing in historic Clyde, it’s time to explore. Visit the control room to meet the controller in charge and discover what it takes to keep the power flowing. It’s a fascinating glimpse into something we use all day and rarely think about.

Cross the top of the dam, with Lake Dunstan on one side and the river far below on the other. Rising around 100 metres high and stretching 490 metres across the valley, the wall contains approximately one million cubic metres of concrete. That’s a lot of wall! Then head inside it, where the enclosed galleries and sheer scale of the structure around you make the engineering feel very real.

Get close to the enormous pipes that carry water towards the turbines, see the spillway gates and discover an extraordinary challenge: how do you build a dam across a fault line?

Step inside Clyde Dam’s uniquely designed slip joint and discover the ingenuity behind a structure designed to move. Your guide explains how sections of the wall can move independently, helping mitigate the risk posed by a rupture along the fault line.

Inside the powerhouse, the story becomes something you can feel. The vibration of machinery beneath your feet brings home the force of the water and the scale of the operation. Then comes a moment you might never have imagined: stepping inside a turbine. Sometimes, it’s even a working one.

But the story is about much more than machinery. The dam’s construction sparked fierce debate, demanded ingenious solutions and changed Central Otago forever. The waters held behind it formed Lake Dunstan, now such a familiar part of the landscape that it’s hard to imagine the region without it.

Along the way, your local guide shares the stories and clever thinking behind this enormous structure. Our groups are small, generally no more than around ten people and often fewer, with plenty of opportunity for questions and conversation.

Curiosity has no age limit. We’ve welcomed visitors from two months old to people in their nineties. You don’t need to be an engineering enthusiast to be fascinated. Bring your questions and a little curiosity about what happens when you flick a light switch.

Your visit gives something back, too. Ten percent of every ticket supports local community causes.

To guarantee availability book as soon as possible. Early booking is worth consideration especially if you planning the trip during high season like public holidays or weekends.

This excursion you can cancel with no cost up to 24 hours before the start of the trip. If you cancel it after 24 hours or not show up on the excursion you will still be charged the full price of the activity. Being late on pick-up or departure will be considered as not showing up.