Swimming with dolphins in Akaroa

Can you swim with dolphins in Akaroa?

Yes, with Black Cat Cruises, which holds a DOC permit for Hector's dolphin swims in Akaroa Harbour.

Ōnuku Farm Hostel and Ecoseaker have also offered small-boat swims; older listings show one boat trip a day at Ōnuku and 12 guests per trip on Ecoseaker. Akaroa Dolphins deliberately does not swim with dolphins and explains why on its blog. If you want to watch rather than swim, read the dolphin cruise guide.

When is the dolphin swim season in Akaroa?

From 1 October to the end of April. Outside those months you can only watch the dolphins from a cruise.

Since September 2025, DOC caps dolphin trips across all Akaroa operators at 20 a day in the busiest summer months and 12 a day for six months of the year, RNZ reported. Black Cat's chief executive said its swim trips fell by around 50 percent. Fewer trips means summer dates sell out. Book as soon as you know your day.

What is the swim actually like?

You ride out in a small boat, slide in when the guides find a pod, and float at the surface while the dolphins choose whether to come close.

Black Cat supplies "premium 5mm wetsuits and swim mask", and pipes hot water into your wetsuit after the swim. Hot chocolate, cookies and the guides' photos are included. Groups are capped at 12 swimmers. The crew uses no sonar and does not chase the dolphins, and touching or feeding them is banned. One Viator guest wrote: "We got to swim with the dolphins when the dolphins signaled they wanted to play. It was awesome!"

Who can swim, and do you need to be a strong swimmer?

Swimmers must be 8 or older, confident in open sea and able to swim 50 metres unaided. Life jackets are not permitted.

• Children aged 8 to 12 need an adult swimmer in the water with them.
• You need conversational English to follow the safety briefing.
• Complete Black Cat's pre-arrival check-in, with medical details, 48 hours before.
• If you use an inhaler or an EpiPen, bring it, or you cannot take part.

Not a swimmer? Black Cat sells spectator places on the same boat, according to its swim page.

How cold is the water in Akaroa?

Cool: sea temperature records put Akaroa at about 16 C in January and February, and colder at the edges of the season.

Black Cat does not publish a figure; the averages come from a sea temperature record site. That is what the 5 mm wetsuit and the hot water afterwards are for. Bring a towel, warm layers and a beanie for the ride back. An aggregator quoting Black Cat says there are no showers during the wharf works.

Do you get a refund if you don't swim with the dolphins?

Not from Black Cat: its FAQ says "no refunds are given for unsuccessful swims". If no dolphins are seen at all, you get a re-cruise voucher, not money.

If Black Cat cancels for weather, you get a full refund or a transfer. Cancelling yourself inside 24 hours of a direct booking costs the full fare, and no-shows are not refunded. All of this is on the Black Cat FAQ. The Viator swim day from Christchurch cancels for a full refund up to 6 days before; one guest there in 2020 reports a partial refund when the dolphins would not swim.

Coming from Christchurch without a car? The swim day adds hotel pickup, the coach and the swim gear.

★ 3.8 37 reviews · 9 hours · from $222

Explore the dolphin swim day from Christchurch →

Black Cat direct or the Viator swim day from Christchurch?

With a car, book Black Cat in Akaroa. Without one, the swim day from Christchurch is the easy option, but it is rated only 3.8 from 37 reviews.

The swim day starts with an 8:30 am hotel pickup and runs about 9 hours, via Gebbies Pass, Lake Ellesmere, Lake Forsyth and Little River. The happy reviews are about the dolphins. The unhappy ones are about the day around them: a 2024 reviewer felt the guides were more drivers than guides and that the farm stop added little. Our view: the swim is the same either way, and the coach is the weak part. The French Connection bus reaches Akaroa at 11:00 am, and Black Cat says its 12:30 pm swim matches it. See Christchurch to Akaroa.

Is swimming with dolphins harmful to them?

It is legal and tightly regulated, but conservationists disagree on the effect, and that is why one Akaroa operator refuses to do it.

DOC rules say "do not swim with dolphin pods containing juveniles", and swim permits sit under the Marine Mammals Protection Regulations 1992. Akaroa Dolphins cites research that swimming can disturb the dolphins. We think a swim with a strict operator is fine, and a cruise is the gentler choice. The background is in the Hector's dolphin guide.

Frequently asked questions