A Swim With Playful Hector's Dolphins
This is a fun cruise to find and swim with the Hector's dolphins! Out of Akaroa Harbour, Black Cat Cruises does a great job finding them and helping you safely swim with them
For years we've wanted to go for a swim with the dolphins out at Akaroa, a beautiful seaside village near Christchurch. This April we finally decided to go for Sue's birthday and literally ‘take the plunge’. While we had envisioned a sunny, calm and warm day to jump in the ocean, what we got was a slightly cold, windy, rain-showery day, with a bit of ocean swell on top!
While we had envisioned a sunny, calm and warm day to jump in the ocean, what we got was a slightly cold, windy, rain-showery day, with a bit of ocean swell on top!
The good news is that the Black Cat Cruise company that runs this tour has excellent, thick wetsuits, including booties and gloves to keep you warm throughout the trip. While we endured slightly less than ideal weather, we saw some beautiful coastline and to our great satisfaction, we also found a pod of playful Hector's dolphins down the coastline.
The dolphins are not always found in the harbour (and about 3% of the cruises don't find them at all). So we motored outside the harbour, down the coastline for a couple of kilometers. The swell knocked us around a little, but not enough to make anyone feel sick. We had some beautiful skies, including a rainbow over the mouth of the harbour as we headed out.
It was time to jump in and get our wild animal experience underway. The ocean was a little choppy but we had no problems getting in our out of the boat. The wetsuits were so buoyant that staying on top of the water was quite easy. And the dolphins did not disappoint! They swam around us for close to 30 minutes and seemed to enjoy the company. Hector's dolphins are the smallest and rarest marine dolphins in the world. They have distinct black facial markings, short stocky bodies and a dorsal fin shaped like a Mickey Mouse ear.
Hector's dolphins are the smallest and rarest marine dolphins in the world. They have distinct black facial markings, short stocky bodies and a dorsal fin shaped like a Mickey Mouse ear.
Of course you can't touch them or feed them anything. While the Hector's dolphins are endangered, the population near Akaroa is has increased over the last few years.
Toward the end of our 3-hour tour we took some relief from the swell and maneuvered the boat close to the shoreline to see some sea lions. We saw several relaxing along the shore. The shoreline was beautiful and showed us signs of the volcanic origins of this area. The Banks Peninsula, where Akaroa is located, is an extinct volcano.
Heading back to the harbour was quite smooth since we were going with the swell, and we had some hot chocolate to help us recover from our ocean swim. The guide and driver were excellent and we'd love to do this again. Maybe on a warm, calm and sunny day:) !
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