Itinerary
Your day starts with pickup from your Christchurch hotel, then travel in a comfortable coach for about 2.5 hours to reach Kaikoura, taking a scenic road through the North Canterbury region.
Stop At:
• Kaikoura, Kaikoura, Canterbury Region, South Island
• Whale Watch Kaikoura, Whaleway Station Road, Kaikōura 7340, New Zealand
• Why Not Cafe, 66 West End, Kaikōura 7300, New Zealand
• Peninsula Seal Colony, Point Kean, Kaikoura New Zealand
• Christchurch, Christchurch, Canterbury Region, South Island
See Availability.
Traveler pickup is offered
07:00 AM
11 hours(approx.)
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
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.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Posted By : Sheila_H
The tour driver, Jude, was a joy. The stop to see the seals was a wonderful experience. The whale watching experience was amazing. We got to see a Sperm whale and watch it dive, showing us its fluke (tail). We would highly recommend
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Posted On : 2024-04-28
Posted By : Susan_F
Amazing day out !
This tour option really suited us as we were not driving around NZ & wanted to use Christchurch as a base for some activities.
Carmen our tour guide was so lovely and informative & due to the tour size that day it really felt like a few friends out for an adventure!
We were picked up from our accommodation, made the tour in Kaikoura with plenty time to spare, when out on the water we were so happy to see a hump back whale and pods of dolphins...back to town for some lunch with time to wander the shops then off we set back to Christchurch with a stop for some seal spotting along the way!
All in all a great day out...would recommend for those who want to leave the car behind or are not driving like us!
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Posted On : 2024-04-07
Posted By : Bballbum1642
We booked this and it was amazing! Our trip guide, Pete, was absolutely INCREDIBLE and really made the drive up and back enjoyable.
The whale watching park was great as well. We saw dophi s, albatross and a sperm whale. We would definitely recommend for others.
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Posted On : 2024-04-01
Posted By : Julie_N
Seeing dolphins,seals, the community. Flying over the ocean to see several beautiful sights. Driver answered our questions, gave us lots of info! No whales, but that can happen.
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Posted On : 2024-03-29
Posted By : alistairb1954
I have rated this trip for the sheer professionalism and high integrity of this company. We were warned that the sea had a big swell and people could take a refund .most decided to go .There was big swell and this triggered one of the passengers to have what was probably a fit .The crew dealt with matter with calm professionalism. We returned to harbour to off load the passenger .who was fine along with a few others who had been seasick .We then headed out again .once in deep water the sea was fine the sun shining .But sadly only a distant whale sighting .I had enjoyed the trip anyway .But then there was an announcement of an 80% refund for the disruption we had had .Not many tour companies are that decent .so well done Whale Watch
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Posted On : 2024-03-23
Posted By : Katharina_H
Was a nice experience.
I have seen the „big 5 of Kaikoura“: Albatross/ seals/ sperm whales/ two kinds of dolphins.
The „Whale watching“ crew managed to find two of the sperm whales.
But my personal highlight were the dolphins who swam with and near our boat.
We could spend our lunch break at the beach (brought my own lunch) and enjoy the view.
After that we have seen a lot of seals chilling on the rocks next the coast.
Everything went well and I could recommend this trip to others.
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Posted On : 2024-03-18
Posted By : Paul_M
We saw 3 sperm whales. All had names, which was cute. Crew was passionate about it. Saw tuna, seals and albatross as well. Outstanding!
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Posted On : 2024-03-10
Posted By : Chrissie737
We were told 1/2 hr before due to depart in catamaran that it had been cancelled. We were offered a flight to Wales instead. As it had been a 2 1/2 hour drive from Christchurch, and we asked if you got a clear view of the Wales which was sad as yes. We decided to go for the flight. Sadly it was a very underwhelming trip.
Although sightings of a couple of sperm whales and a blue whale, we could not see that you really could only see the shape of the whales and we even missed a couple by the time the plane had circled around.
Although it was a nice flight on a small aircraft, if you have done this before, there was really nothing special about it. I would go for a full refund which was offered, and go another day if you are able.
On the positive side, our driver here was a wonderful Spanish lady called Carmen , was absolutely brilliant. Her knowledge was amazing, she was very personable and made every effort
To make a trip as enjoyable as possible. There were four people that went on the flight and we were extremely disappointed.
I appreciate that there is no guarantee of the Wales, however, flying in a small aircraft which obviously has limitations to help closely, I thought was a wasted trip
journey journey
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Posted On : 2024-03-07
Posted By : MeghanMarie_V
The cruise experience was amazing, though we only saw one whale from far away. The dolphins were great though, we came across a huge group of them jumping out of the water. I didn't really enjoy the tour guide's attitude though. I believe her name was Carmen. It seemed like she was angry with me for staying in a certain accommodation for some reason and made comments about it ("How am I supposed to know where reception is??" [after coming almost 20 minutes late] "Ugh that's really out of the way." "Well we're already past your stop, what do you expect me to do?") and acted like it was an inconvenience to pick me up or drop me off there (part of the tour package). She also spent most of the way there talking, which is to be expected, but her microphone volume was super low so you had to really strain to hear. She kept getting me mixed up with another woman as well, and she ended up skipping my drop off spot due to that as well so I got dropped off late.
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Posted On : 2024-02-25
Posted By : Geoffrey_W
The journey to the experience was very good and made even better by Pete, our tour guide for the day. He was excellent.
Seeing the tail fluke of Sperm whale rise and then dive into the water was fantastic
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Posted On : 2024-02-22
