Swimming with Dolphins in Akaroa: Close Encounter with Hector's Dolphins in New Zealand

Swim with wild Hector’s dolphins in Akaroa Harbour, New Zealand. An intimate wildlife experience with only 12 swimmers per vessel. Warm up with hot chocolate and enjoy a shower after the swim.

Duration: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Akaroa Harbour - Experience the most intimate dolphin encounter in Akaroa, just 90 minutes from Christchurch. Swim with Hector’s dolphins and observe other wildlife like the NZ fur seal on this comprehensive 3.5-hour tour.
    With a limit of 12 swimmers, enjoy a personalized adventure led by our skilled skipper and nature guide.
    Start at Akaroa’s main…
What's Included
  • 3.5 hours including suiting up/showers (2.5 hrs out on the water)
  • Final check-in is 15 minutes prior to tour time
  • Wetsuit, boots, and optional mask (for those swimming)
  • Hot chocolate & biscuit
  • Hot shower facilities
  • Includes live commentary from your skipper and guide
Additional Information

Small Group Tours - Enjoy a 3.5-hour adventure with a maximum of 12 swimmers, guided by our skipper and a nature expert, ensuring a personal experience. The tour starts at our facility on Akaroa’s main wharf, where you will meet fellow explorers and change into the provided wetsuits. After a briefing, board our specially designed boats for an…

Location
82 Beach Road
Beach Road
Departure Point: Akaroa's main wharf Dates: 1st October through to 30th April Return point: Cruise returns to original point of departure, check in time 15 minutes prior
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(207 Ratings)
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Clairesi544nd
Nov 29, 2024
Great morning out - Great fun for the whole family. Loved it. Ben and Chris were awesome. Had our 9 year old swimming and toddler on the boat and both had a blast.
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Marc2307
Nov 29, 2024
Amazing experience! - Amazing experience! There were so many dolphins all around us and they came so close. After the swimming the dolphins were chasing the boat and jumping out of the water. So crazy, so amazing. A must-do in Akaroa! The crew were nice, friendly and gave us the best experience.
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Cruiser735505
Nov 28, 2024
Great experience with Hector’s dolphins - Our guides found the dolphins quickly and we immediately got in the water. The water was cold, about 51 degrees Fahrenheit, but we had 5 mm wetsuits on to keep us warm. The wetsuits also keep you afloat so you don’t have to move to stay on top of the water. The dolphins swam around and between us for a while and when they left, we moved to a new spot. We got in again and had more fun with them. We then went to a cove and saw 5 fur seals on the rocks, including a pup. You only wear the wetsuit on the cruise and it keeps you warm. Upon returning to the dock, we had hot showers and changed back into our dry clothes. The operator sent us pictures to download immediately. Overall, we had a great experience. The dive guide, Harry, was very friendly and helped everyone.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Keri
Nov 19, 2024
A must do - life changing experience! - What an incredible life changing experience! We booked this cruise knowing we may not get to swim with the dolphins but we knew we would at least see them. We appreciate the fact that this is a “wild” experience and the crew does not bait or manipulate the dolphins. However, the dolphins were ready to play! We had a great swim and were able to be within feet of the dolphins watching them swim and jump. It was exhilarating! Our crew was amazing! Thomas, Harriet, Lexie and Will took great care of us, taught us about the dolphins and their behavior and were very careful to let the dolphins make the call on whether we would swim or not. And the best was their excitement when they saw the dolphins and their excitement in watching us experience them in the water. The crew was as excited as we were! I loved seeing how magical it was for them even though they do this everyday. This was an incredible experience with an incredible crew! It’s a MUST DO!!!
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Tking3110
Oct 29, 2024
Must do experience - This was an absolutely amazing experience Harry was an awesome photographer 📸 thanks team at black cat will be back again ❤️
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z7816nlstephanier
Apr 25, 2024
Great experience - Friendly staff who looked after us well and answered all of our questions. They worked hard to make sure we had a good experience! Loved our experience swimming with the dolphins.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Castiron135
Apr 2, 2024
This is the real McCoy when it comes to swimming with dolphins - Fantastic Crew with attention to detail. They take care of customers while teaching and protecting Hector’s Dolphins
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Familygermany226
Nov 16, 2024
More can be seen from the boat. - The Hector dolphins travel in much smaller groups than the dolphins at Kaikoura (another species). We've seen dolphins several times. They usually glide around the boat just below the surface of the water at a further distance. Accordingly, it was difficult to take good photos. The crew points out that they are wild animals. You can't touch them. Participants in the water must wait and see if the dolphins approach. I was only there as a spectator from the boat and from there I could see much more of the dolphins than the swimmers. The crew was very nice and professional. My recommendation would be to book the much cheaper nature watching tour. If you book the swimming tour, it is important to take into account that you swim in the water for about 15 minutes, so that a dolphin may swim past at high speed.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
C7031czkevinc
Nov 27, 2024
Boat didn’t even go out, no call or warning given - Had an afternoon swim with dolphins tour scheduled for Nov 19th. Drove 1.5 hours from Christchurch, to only hear that they were going to cancel our tour as we showed up to the shop. No call before hand, and the reason given “the morning boat didn’t see many dolphins and it was choppy, so the captain decided to cancel the afternoon tour.” I’m not a captain, but it was a beautiful sunny day with not much wind (included a picture from the top of the crater to give perspective). They tried selling us on a harbor cruise because the boat is bigger so could handle rougher water. We even went to another harbor cruise company to see if they offered the swimming, and they seemed surprised the tour was cancelled. When booking this experience, we understood there was a risk we may not be able to swim with dolphins, and may not even see any, but seemed a little shady that the boat didn’t even go out. I think the description on the website makes it seem like chances of actually swimming with dolphins is much higher than it truly is. Led to us wasting a whole day of our honeymoon. They did provide full refund though.
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Laurarw7381gy
Nov 22, 2024
Awful. Poor business. - We went on the swimming with dolphins tour - but didn't swim with dolphins. We were spectators for the entire tour. We paid full rate but should have paid spectators rate. Very disappointing. Poor business. Sent an email to company. Still no response.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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up to 12 guests
1 Adult
December 2024
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