Name: Swim with Hector's Dolphins in Akaroa Harbour
Price: 250.00 NZD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.4 (5 reviews)

Highlights

Swim with the world's smallest and rarest dolphin
Enjoy a cruise on a jet-powered catarmaran
Professional guides with knowledge of the Akaroa Harbour

Swim with the Hector Dolphin, just 90 minutes from Christchurch! The beautiful, sheltered Akaroa Harbour is the perfect place to dive with one of the world's favourite and most intelligent creatures. Take to the water on a jet-powered catamaran in ultimate safety for the swim of your life!

What's included?

All equipment including wetsuits, masks, snorkels
Hot showers
Hot chocolate
Dolphin postcard momento

Hector's dolphins are endemic to New Zealand, meaning that you will not find them anywhere else in the world, and Akaroa is the only place you can take a trip out to swim with them. They are also the world's smallest and rarest dolphin. An encounter with a Hector's dolphin in the wild is truly a once in a lifetime experience.

Take to the water in a jet-powered catamaran for ultimate safety for you and the dolphins. Everything is provided including wetsuits, masks, snorkels, hot showers, hot chocolate and a free gift pack. Passengers have a 95% success rate of seeing dolphins and a 90% success rate of swimming with them. On the rare occasion we don't spot any dolphins, you can join the cruise again at a later date.

This experience is part of the Responsible range as it holds a Qualmark Enviro-Gold endorsement.

Important information

Session Length

The total length of the tour is 3 hours
You will be swimming with the dolphins for approximately 45 minutes
Operates seasonally from 1 October through to 30 April each year

Guidelines

Customers should be reasonable confident swimmers however a wetsuit is provided so there is a flotation
Swimming is recommended for ages 10 and above

Cancellation

Change your booking up to 24 hours before the start time of your experience
Changes are not permitted within 24 hours of your experience
Late arrivals or no shows may result in you forfeiting your experience

Numbers on the Day

Up to 12 swimmers per trip.

Weather

All cruises are weather dependent.

Dress Code

Bring swimming costume, towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, hat and a camera. You will be provided with a wetsuit, snorkel, mask and where appropriate hood, gloves and booties.

Other Info

Dolphins are wild and free to swim wherever they wish. There is a high probability that you will see dolphins, however this cannot be guaranteed. This makes the experience all the more special when you do see dolphins.

Location

All guests will check in at the Black Cat Cruises office located at 61 Beach Road, Akaroa

Reviews

4.4

5 reviews

5 stars 2

4 stars 3

3 stars 0

2 stars 0

1 star 0

Great fun

Ky 17 February 2019

Although we did not get to swim with the dolphins my partner and I had a great time. Beautiful scenery and the staff were amazing. If they weren’t so kind we probably would have been more disappointed that we didn’t actually swim with them. You have a great team and facility

Amazing!!

Kathryn Smoochy 14 March 2016

Great team at Black Cat, made it an amazing trip and looked after us so well. Swimming with dolphins was epic!

Excellent experience

Greta84 27 December 2014

My partner and I loved this experience. The ethos of the company was great, it really impressed me how they respectfully approached the dolphins and the small group size taken out on each boat also reflected this- a stark contrast to a dolphin swim I did in the Bay of Islands a few years ago! The wetsuits were really buoyant and the guides were extremely knowledgeable and lovely. It was a fantastic trip and we even spotted some Little Blue Penguins taking a dip. I'd definitely recommend this provider.

awesome and wet

benny45 23 November 2014

Swimming was great crew were friendly and trip was informative and friendly xx

Caroline0 30 January 2012

We enjoyed it a lot. The only problem was that we got very cold on the way back and one girl in our group was really shivering badly. I'm not sure how this could be improved - perhaps more towels and jackets provided? Guides and drivers were excellent though.

Swim with Hector's Dolphins in Akaroa Harbour