Kaikoura Whale Watch Day Tour from Christchurch
Description
Experience the natural treasures of New Zealand on a whale-watching cruise from the picturesque town of Kaikoura. Look for the mighty Sperm Whales that live in these waters along with Dusky Dolphins, New Zealand Fur Seals and Seabirds. Admire breathtaking views of the snow-capped Kaikoura Ranges during your free time in Kaikoura's township and visit a seal colony on land. Wrap up the day with a scenic drive back to Christchurch and a wine tasting at a vineyard in North Canterbury (time permitting). Your experienced guide shares informative commentary throughout the day on this fun and fascinating tour.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Minimum numbers apply. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation, if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
- Please note, infants under 3 years of age may not join the cruises but may travel on the light aircraft tours
- Once the tour has commenced only the unused portion of the tour will be refunded should the boats not sail or the planes not fly.
- If due to whale sightings or weather conditions the boat offers a partial refund, this refund will be passed on to our customers.
- If whale watch is undertaken by light aircraft and no whales are seen, no refund applies.
- A decision is made at 6:30am each day, based on local weather conditions, as to whether the tour will depart Christchurch or be canceled. If the tour is cancelled, clients are notified by 7:15am and no cancellation fees are charged. If the tour travels to Kaikoura and the whale watch cruises are canceled, whale watch plane tours are offered as an alternative. If clients do not wish to fly, or the plane tours are also canceled, a cash refund of NZD 120.00 per adult is given. Refund is issued on the day of the tour by the tour operator in Christchurch.
- As the wineries close at 5pm daily and on selected public holidays, a stop may not be possible. On these occasions no refund is applicable.
Reviews(192)
The ride out to Kaikoura was very beautiful. Jude was great to spend the day with. The whale watching boat crew very knowledgeable and flexible e Pugh to chase one last whale when we had started back. Excellent day!
Sounds like you had a great day all round. Great driver (Jude), great drive, great sea cruise - and the whales were also cruising. Thank you for your review.
A great day! We had a nice, small group of only 6 so that made the day even better. Our guide, Jude, was excellent. She was very kind, friendly, and informative throughout the drive and knew a great spot to see fur seals which would have been worth the trip itself! On our tour, we got lucky and saw both sperm and humpback whales, dusky dolphins, and albatross. Well worth the day!
Incredible day for you filled with nature and commentary. Jude has plenty of stories to share and loves showing off her backyard. Appreciate your kind review.
To do this trip on our own would have been exhausting. Terry made the trip amazing. We stopped at a halfway point to get coffee and go to the bathroom and then got to Kaikoura just before noon and had nearly an hour to find a spot to eat lunch in this quaint town. Whale watching was such an adventure and Terry capped it off by stopping to see the seals. What a treat! Thanks to Terry for all the information and stories on the way up!
A great review of the Kaikoura trip and excellent you mentioned Terry. Such an excellent day!
The tour guide is very nice. He is empathetic,considerate as well as humorous and professional. The views are good. Just please that think twice before Kaikoura Whale Watch, it will cause seasickness.You can choose this after bring some protective things or choose not to go depending on your health condition.
Thank you for your review and your comments are noted. We do promote this is as a sea going vessel and some days the sea is flat and some days it is rolly. If in doubt take sea sickness pills.
This is a must do trip, whilst it may seem a bit expensive it's actually excellent value. We were going to do independly but so glad we booked this trip. Andrew who was our driver was fantastic, really informative and friendly. We were picked up from our accommodation then picked up 4 other stops, a total of 11 guests including ourselves. We stopped for coffee on the way, before arriving to pick up boat. We saw sperms whales, hump back whales, loads of dolphins, the boat tour is 2 and half hours. We opted for lunch included would highly recommend On the way home, we stopped at a Seal colony, which ended the tour. Before drive back to Christchurch.
Thanks for your great review! It sounds like you had a great day out with Andrew and thank you for highlighting him, I'm certain he will be thrilled to hear you enjoyed your day!
We decided some time ago that we had to do this trip when we visited Christchurch and the only question was whether I could drive it myself or make the booking with the tour company. I am glad I chose the latter because it is a long way up to Kaikoura and the main road is not fast. Our driver, Carmen, was excellent and she guided us all the way, with helpful tips about where to wait, what to see and where to go etc. It was a beautiful day and we did see whales, albeit not those that breach, and overall it was well worth the trip.
You made a good choice taking a driver/guide - meant you could relax and soak it all up. Pleased you got to see some whales.
We had a wonderful day, our driver/guide Stephanie was a lovely and interesting lady who made sure the drive was comfortable and lots of knowledge about the local area. We got really lucky on our boat, we saw two species of whale and three species of dolphin and then on the way back Stephanie took us to see a fur seal colony with loads of babies!!! An amazing experience.
You had a lucky day with a special guide - Stephanie. Thank you for your review - much appreciated.
We were so lucky. Our whale jumped out of the water twice and we saw lots of dolphins. It was fabulous
Wow so lucky - those mammals put on a treat for you! Well done.
A brilliant trip from start to finish. We were picked up from our hotel on time. Our driver, Pete, was very friendly and welcoming. He gave good commentary along the way to Kaikoura. The whale boat trip was amazing, we saw Sperm Whales, fur seals, albatross, and a massive pod of dusky dolphins. Truly wonderful! On way back to Christchurch Pete stopped to show us loads of basking fur seals, a great photo opportunity. A most glorious day out and would highly recommend this trip.
Wow - such a fabulous review of your experience in Kaikoura. So pleased you got to see so much wildlife and a great time with Pete. Thank you again.
The Kaikoura Whale Watch Day Tour from Christchurch was excellent. Stephanie, our guide/driver picked us up at our motel. She was an excellent driver, provided good communication and helped with our lunch. Top notch. The whale watch tour was perfect. We saw 3 sperm whales, spent about 20 minutes with a humpback whale and watched a pod of about 100 dusky dolphins. The guides on the boat were excellent. They did everything to ensure guests had a great experience. I was a little concerned with the group size initially. But it wasn't a problem and affect the experience. People could move around the boat while viewing the animals and generally there was lots of time with each sighting Great experience. Well worth it.
Wow what a fabulous day you had. So much wildlife and so much packed into your day - so pleased you had a fabulous experience with Stephanie.
