I saved the best for last. On practically the last stop of my trip (Kaikoura), I did what I have been looking forward to since I head about it from other travelers - swimming with the dolphins. It was a 3-4 hour trip and it costs around NZ$165. The Pacific Ocean water is cold so we had to wear wet suits. We wore snorkels so we can see under water. We were told to make noises to attract the dolphins. I rented an underwater camera for NZ$40.
The boat took about 20 minutes to get out to the open ocean and start looking for the dolphins. They are not hard to spot because they hang out around this area all the time. Once the captain spots the dolphins, he sounds off the alarm and we'll jump into the water. Very soon the dolphins will start swimming around us. They were almost playing with us. With the underwater camera I took some good pictures and videos of the dolphins. Sometimes it's hard to take good pictures because they swim so fast. By the time you realize it's in front of you, it's gone. So I have my camera ready all the time and had to anticipate their movements. After a while they swim away and we get back on the boat. Then the captain would look for another pod and we'll go into the water again. We did that four times before it was time for us to go back to shore. This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip.
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| Boats that took us out to swim with the dolphins |
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| Dolphins putting on a show |
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| Pods of dolphins |
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| More dolphins |
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| A close-up shot |
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| Took the picture just before it swam away |
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| So close you can almost touch it |
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| They seem to want to play with you |
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| Sometimes you get more than one swimming around you |
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