Christchurch - Day 3; Kaikoura - Dolphin swimming

We were picked up by the shuttle at 7:30. Then we started and drove the nearly 200 km to Kaikoura on the east coast of New Zealand.

After driving on winding New Zealand roads one last time and enjoying the scenery, we arrived at the organizer's headquarters at 11 o'clock and signed up for the dolphin swimming. 😍

We spent the time until our tour on the beach in the shade and enjoyed the sea air.

At 12:30 we were given incredibly sexy wetsuits, flippers, goggles and snorkels.

We didn't have to drive the boat for long and arrived in a bay where a swarm of several hundred Dusky Dolphins had settled. Dusky Dolphins are small dark dolphins with a white belly, which are very playful and curious.

Once we were surrounded by dolphins, swimmers were given the signal that we were allowed to enter the water and it was simply amazing. The feeling when the dolphins swim all around you is indescribable. The crew told us to make sounds, dive and move as much like a dolphin as possible. Once you attracted the attention of one of the animals, you could spin in a circle with them, swim with them, and if you were lucky, they would jump for you.

When the dolphins had moved on, we caught up on board the boat and were allowed to get back in the water. We repeated this a total of four times.

Afterwards, we had the opportunity to observe the dolphins from the boat with hot chocolate in hand.

It was a wonderful end to our New Zealand trip and a very special experience!