Itinerary
Our Wild Dolphin Encounters will take you into the Bay of Plenty to search for the common dolphin and other marine wildlife. We do not have a set route, but follow the most comfortable pattern with regards to wind and weather to find a pod of dolphins for our encounter.
Stop At:
• Dolphin Seafaris, Berth D1, Tauranga Bridge Marina, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga 3116 New Zealand
See Availability.
Dolphin Seafaris NZ Ltd, Tauranga Bridge Marina State Highway 2, Berth D1/Harbour Bridge Causeway, Tauranga 3110, New Zealand
09:00 AM
6 hours(approx.)
Returns to original departure point
All trips are subject to weather and minimum booking numbers.
Trips operate with a 48 hour non refundable cancellation.
Not wheelchair accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Children must be over 7 to swim with dolphins and be confident swimmers in the ocean.
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Not recommended for travellers with mobility constraints
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 40 travelers
Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Posted By : addimorris
As a dolphin cruise, this was amazing. We dangled our feet off the bow and boated alongside them as they swam and jumped and played all around us! It was magical. I even touched one with my foot! Definitely the best dolphin sighting of my life. The guides said one of the pods was about 90 dolphins and the other was about 250! There were just so many swimming so close, I had never seen anything like it before. Unbelievable.
As a dolphin swim, it was a bit disappointing (at least to Mom). We thought we were going to be able to jump in and freely swim with the dolphins, but even if we were allowed to, we would have only been permitted to hold onto the back of the boat and put our heads in the water to see them as it pulled us. When I learned that that was all we could do, I wasn’t as sad as my Mom not to be able to “swim” with them. Because, even though we found two HUGE pods of dolphins, we weren’t allowed in the water because there were babies present (NZ law).
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Posted On : 2024-05-06
Posted By : Katja_G
Tour got cancelled the day before because of weather conditions, all ok. Since then no answer, no refund of the money.
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Posted On : 2024-03-29
Posted By : Teresa_F
The dolphins swimming and playing in the water alongside of the boat was awesomely amazing!!
Just being on the water was an experience in itself!
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Posted On : 2024-03-27
Posted By : 197grahams
The tour was extremely well organised. Heavy rain was forecast, so to avoid a bad experience we were contacted to see if we wanted to pull our tour forward by 24hrs, we did. Wonderfully enthusiastic and knowledgable guides. Great sightings of dolphins. Very sadly we could not swim with them on this occasion due to the pod having young babies (conservation rules, quite rightly too). Still I was gutted as this is the experience I’ve been seeking and keep failing. But the tour cannot be faulted for this. Refreshments free on board, and informal Q&A with the guides made this a magical and value for money trip!
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Posted On : 2024-03-16
Posted By : Vladislav_K
Let's be clear. It's overpriced, misleading and not worth the money. What they advertise is swimming and snorkeling with dolphins - none of this is actually true. The reality is that you get drag next to a boat while having snorkeling equipment and watching dolphins for less then a 10 minutes. That's not what I call swimming nor snorkeling. And that will only happen if the crew decides it is OK to do so. At the end of the day your chances of actually being in the water (not swimming nor snorkeling) with dolphins is pretty slim. Do yourself a favour and save your money, you can thank me later.
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Posted On : 2024-03-03
Posted By : NZSloans
Great day out on the dolphin seafari. Saw heaps of beautiful dolphins. The staff were amazing and a special shout out to Maeva who was so knowledgeable and to Captain Kerry who was most entertaining.
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Posted On : 2024-03-02
Posted By : kristy
Didn’t see any dolphins. Very sad but only their fifth time not seeing them since November. Wish we could have at least gone for. Bit of a swim. We do have a free trip whenever we come back!
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Posted On : 2024-02-24
Posted By : MarcAntoine_L
It was purely amazing
We had an amazing pod.
The crew was kind, helpful, professional and we learned a lot thanks to their passion.
Thank you
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Posted On : 2024-02-18
Posted By : 613khushis
I would like to start off by saying this was an horrendous of a trip. Me and my wife expected to be entertained or shown multiple sea animals which were promised by the company, we left the harbour and about 45 minutes later were introduced to dolphins (which were fun for 5 minutes) then the crew proceeded to wander around for the next 5 hours showing us nothing and not taking us back to land. Every passenger was exhausted from being held like a prisoner the entire ride. This was a waste of a day for our holiday. Me and my wife didn’t intend to swim either but a whole bunch of other people did and the crew didn’t let them for an unknown reason. If you do wish to go regardless, download some games on your phone prior to going or taking a deck of cards because you WILL be bored out your mind. Would definitely not recommend, save your money because this is definitely not worth it.
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Posted On : 2024-02-05
Posted By : Wanderer64143544202
Absolutely amazing 👏 once in a life time. We even saw Suda Whales and bottle nose. Common and uts was absolutely lifetime memories. Coming back tomorrow to take the kids THANK YOU
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Posted On : 2024-01-24
