Frequently Asked Questions

Every tour card has a Check availability button. Clicking it opens the booking page for that tour, where dates, the current price and payment are handled. The booking is made and paid for there, not on this site.

No. Kaikoura Dolphin Tours compares tours sold on third-party booking platforms and runs none of them, so it has no access to any booking. Changes, cancellations and refunds go through the platform or the operator named on the booking page.

No. The 17 tours are operated by coach companies, boat operators, flight operators and kayak companies such as Leisure Tours, Cheeky Kea Tours, Whale Watch Kaikoura, Air Kaikoura and Seal Swim Kaikoura. This site only compares them side by side.

The operator named on the booking page. They decide departures, weather calls and anything about the day itself, and their contact details are on the confirmation you receive after booking.

Yes. All 17 tours on the site show per-person from-prices in USD. The two 2-day packages are marked "for 2 days" and cover the whole two-day tour for that per-person price.

Free cancellation is stated on all 17 tours, but the window differs. On 12 tours it is up to 24 hours before the start. On four Leisure Tours products it is a full refund only if cancelled at least 6 full days before the start, with a 50% refund between 2 and 6 full days and no refund inside 2 days. On one 2-day package it is at least 3 full days. Check the exact window on the booking page before you pay.

One-day tours run from $82.27 for seal kayaking to $592.95 for a luxury small-group dolphin swim day trip, with a median of $217.00 across the 15 one-day tours. The top price on the site is $697.92 per person, which is a 2-day package and is priced for 2 days.

Yes. The figures here are from-prices read from the booking pages and refreshed, and the platform can change them at any time. The price you see when you click Check availability is the one that applies.

Five types, 17 tours in total: dolphin swim and watch day trips from Christchurch (4), two-day whale and dolphin packages (2), whale watching boats and day trips (3), whale watching flights and helicopters (4), and seal swims, kayaks and albatross trips (4).

A minimum age of 8 is stated on three dolphin swim tours: the 12-Hour Dolphin Swim Day Trip, the 10-Hour Swim, Meal Included tour and the Overnight Whale And Dolphin Package. Other tours do not state a minimum age, so check the booking page for those. The seal swim sets a minimum age of 12.

Weather terms belong to each operator and are not a site-wide promise. Whale Watch Kaikoura, on its own tour, says tours run subject to sea and weather, the captain decides on the day, and 80% of the fare is refunded if no whale is seen. Seal Swim Kaikoura, on its own tour, cancels for weather or low seal activity with a full refund, and offers a 50% refund or a second tour if no seals are seen in the water. Read the wording on each booking page.

Yes, eight of them. One whale watching boat leaves from the Whale Watch base on Whaleway Station Road, three flights and helicopter tours leave from Peketa, and four tours start in the township, from seal kayaking on Beach Road to a helicopter trip from West End. The other nine start in Christchurch.

The whale watching boat run by Whale Watch Kaikoura, with 3,057 reviews at a 4.5 rating, from $101.85 per person. Among dolphin day trips, the most reviewed is the 12-Hour Dolphin Swim Day Trip, with 29 reviews at 4.5, from $283.14.