A team who went on a surfing safari to Fiordland have returned with tales of "world-class waves".
As part of the Hyundai Big Wave Mission, a team of surfers and a documentary crew left Queenstown on Saturday to scour the Fiordland coast by helicopter looking for large, surfable waves.
"We saw waves big enough to be classed as world-class waves," New Zealand Greenroom Production managing director Chris Kirkham said.
Top New Zealand surfer Daniel Kereopa and big-wave specialist Campbell Farrell were on the reconnaissance mission and "liked what they saw", Mr Kirkham said.
"It was an option to surf, but logistically we just didn't have enough time."
The crew flew for 4 hours from the south coast to Milford, covering more than 400km.
The team will now analyse its findings and expects to be filming surfers on the big waves before the end of winter.
Mr Kirkham said Fiordland was "one of the world's untouched regions . . . the beaches are pristine and the surf appealing."
