Daytrip: Dolphin Swim in Kaikoura

At the beginning of our trip to New Zealand, I couldn't get the offer of the Kiwi Tour for dolphin swimming in Kaikoura, near Christchurch, out of my mind. And when we were finally almost at the end of our trip there, I seized the opportunity and am incredibly glad I made that decision!

Fortunately, four other backpackers from my bus also decided to join the tour, and together we rented a car to drive the nearly three hours north. This saved us a lot of money, as the public bus is extremely expensive and our Kiwibus won't be going to Kaikoura again until next month due to ongoing earthquake restoration work. So we set off at 7 a.m. to pick up the car and then headed to Dolphin Encounter to start the tour at around 12:30!

( http://www.dolphinencounter.co.nz/kaikoura/ )

First, we had to find the right wetsuit, fins, and snorkel mask sizes, which were all provided by the Encounter. Then we received a brief introduction on how the tour would proceed and how to behave towards the still wild animals and on the boat in general. After that, we were taken to the shuttle bus, which took us down to the harbor where the boat set sail into the open sea with about 20 passengers.

We sailed out for about 25 minutes and unfortunately had a relatively cool and windy day, which meant the waves were quite big and some people felt a little sick during the ride. Nevertheless, we all arrived safely at the first stop and it was time to put on our masks and snorkels and jump into the cold water! It didn't take long for the first dolphins to swim around and past me with interest, which we had already observed from the boat. The animals truly behaved like the 'puppies of the sea,' as our tour guide said at the beginning, circling around me, doing flips and somersaults, and following every sound that was new to them :)

Unfortunately, I didn't have a waterproof camera, so I couldn't take any pictures of the animals with me underwater, which is a shame, but I still have the beautiful memory :) And luckily, the dolphins were close enough that they can still be seen very well in the pictures.

Overall, we were allowed to dive with the dolphins four times at four different locations, so we also experienced different groups or 'families' of dolphins. Each time was a unique experience, as each animal interacts and behaves differently with you. In the end, the boat stayed at the last location for a while so that we could enjoy the view from the deck again in peace and changed into dry clothes. As I wrote at the beginning, this tour was one of the best experiences I had on my trip. I was incredibly excited about how close I could swim with the animals and observe their behavior and interaction with me :)