What was billed as a two-and-a-half hour winter nature cruise was an hour and a half harbor cruise. We did see one seal and a few common birds, but these were all on Mount Maunganui -- no reason to be on the boat.

We were lucky enough to arrange an educational marine biology trip with Dolphin Seafaris and it was the best! We saw; a sunfish, an albatross, a mako shark, a giant leatherback turtle (that came really close to the boat for ten minutes and then it waved goodbye to us)! Penguins, eagle rays, stingrays (snorkelling), and a hammerhead shark. The Dolphin Seafaris crew look after everything. They are very knowledgeable and make everyone feel welcome.

This was such an amazing experience! Nathan and cila were wonderful. Strongly recommend this to all. So great to see these beauties in their natural habitat! Thank you for a great day xo

Truely a lovely experience and saw many dolphins and other animals. The staff are very genuine and friendly. Definitely would go again

Best tour we have done in New Zealand so far. We had the chance to see over 50 dolphins (probably closer to 100) and swim with them (without being intrusive - this is a eco/smart tour). The staff/guides are super friendly and kept spoting animals for us on the way back!!: albatros, seal and orcas!! Thank you to the crew!

I got this for myself and my daughter for Christmas and it was truely the most amazing day! We both loved it so much! We didn’t get to swim with the dolphins but we saw a pod with over 100 dolphins. Seriously worth every dollar! The staff are extremely well informed and happy to chat. They assisted my daughter in the water when we got to swim with a seal so that I too could get the full experience. Such an amazing day! Highly recommend!

I agree with BB1975 review in regards to the so called swimming part. Not what we or others who I spoke with thought it would be. Very unpleasant experience being dragged behind in the boat wake, practically being drowned. This is not swimming with dolphins by any stretch of the imagination. Nor did we see any. Stick to the viewing, forget getting in the water. The day was fine, the boat was roomy, we did see 3 very small pods of dolphins, that's just the luck of the draw. The female staff were lovely but the skipper was a bit of a pillock. I wouldn't recommend this experience to others.

We went out with Dolphin Seafaris last week. The crew were great, very knowledgeable about Dolphins and the local area and excellent with all the children on board. We saw 4 pods of dolphins, 2 pods of common dolphins and 2 pods of bottle nose dolphins during the 5 hr trip. Fortunately we got to see pods with babies which was really special but it also means you are not allowed to swim when there are babies in the pod. The crew tried hard to find us a pod we could swim with but no luck. It didn’t really spoil the experience at all as we really got quite close to all the pods and had a great opportunity to see them in their natural environment. Thanks to the crew for a great experience.

We had an awesome day with a very friendly and professional crew. They knew so much about New Zeeland wildlife and water creatures in particular. There were plenty of snacks and drinks and great service. It was hard to find dolphins this day and the hopes to see any slowly faded. And then finally!! The crew is communicating with other boats and over the radio they succeeded to locate a pod of 25-30 common dolphins. They were really fast ones (hunting for food) but we were lucky enough to both see them and swim with them! A lifelong dream came through!

Boat was nice and efficient, felt really close up with the dolphins. Seen heaps of pods, crew were all nice.

We went out on a Saturday morning, sunny day with pretty calm waters. After a couple hours searching we reached a pod of 200 common dolphins, it was incredible and we hung off the back of the boat heads under water to see dolphins swimming literally a metre from us. Then we found humpback whales shortly after, a mother and calf, that gave us some incredible tail slaps and slight jumps out of the water. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience!

I have always wanted to get up close and personal with dolphins as I adore them. However never wanted to visit them in captivity as did not wish to be helping fund industry that stops these super intelligent and magnificent creatures from being free. As a bit of a landlubber it was a daunting thought going out into the ocean to visit dolphins in their home. BUT Dolphin Seafaris led by Captain Cameron and wonderful crew Cille, Sarah and Murillo made my husband and I feel very safe, comfortable and welcome. The depth of knowledge of the Captain and crew, and their willingness to share it made the day not only super enjoyable but educational as well. After approximately an hour or so we were able to locate a few Common dolphins who took us to their pod of approximately 20 dolphins. The dolphins stayed and played with us for the whole time that NZ law allows. Dolphin Seafaris provided all the equipment (wetsuit, snorkel & goggles) needed and I was able to be in the water and swim with them twice. It was just as phenomenal from the boat as the dolphins seemed to enjoy our company as much as we loved theirs!! Those folk that decided not to swim seemed to have just as a great as time as me. Once our time was up and by law we had to leave the pod - what was really lovely was the pod following us for some time and playing in the boat's waves until they eventually peeled off and went about their own FREE and wonderful way. Definitely one of the best things I have ever experienced and I thank all at Dolphin Seafaris for making it so wonderful, memorable and an absolute joy. Thank you Thank you Thank you

Spent 6 hours with full speed on a poor boat with unfriendly staff staff and an incapable captain. We finally found a group of dolphins, but the swimming experience is poor compared to other providers. If you have the freedom to choose, you should go for dolphin swimming in Kaikoura. This is so much better than this rip-off by Dolphin Safaris.

We had a great time with Cameron! The trip was memorable and we had almost 100 dolphins swimming around us. Nothing like this we’ve ever seen!!

OMG, what an amazing experience of beautiful / majestic animals. We thoroughly enjoyed our day with Cameron and his team and the ocean experience with penguins, a sea lion and of course dolphins. Cameron’s updates were very insightful and it was clear, he loves what he does. The swimming part and holding to the handrail wasn‘t our cup of tea but this is very much a personal taste question. We felt it was much nicer to watch the dolphins from the ship. Note, length of the tour is rather indicative and depends on the day and how long it takes to find the dolphins. Our tour ran until 3PM (vs. typical end of 1PM). So don’t pack any other items into your dolphin day!