Dolphin Seafaris
Maps
Details
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Organisation |
Dolphin SeafarisCommercial organisation |
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Location |
North Island ▷ Bay of Plenty ▷ Tauranga |
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Categories |
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Directions To Office |
Marine Animals
Dolphin Watching
Reviews
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5.0/5
Such an amazing trip with such a friendly crew....
the best 30th i mean 20 10th ever.... thanks for the present too.... love my tshirt and got to see 2 whalesand many dolphins -one even touched my good :)
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4.0/5
We did not really see dolphins but the guide was really nice and we spent a great time after all.
Oh! we saw whales so that made it worth it.
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5.0/5
Guide was really friendly, experienced and a lot of knowledge of the sea and animals.
We saw a pod of dolphins and did some fishing.
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5.0/5
This could not have been a better trip!
We had been on a dolphin tour some years previously in the Bay of Islands, and on that occassion saw only 5 or 6 dolphins. Our expectations therefore were at this level, so imagine our delight when, after some thorough and persistent searching, we encountered a pod of over 250 dolphins! We got to swim with the dolphins 5 or 6 times, and the captain and crew could not have been better.
Ignore the rantings of 'Edwards' review below - I think he must have been on a different boat to the one we were on! My advice - if you are travelling to NZ with the intention of swimming with Dolphins, don't take a risk with anyone else!
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5.0/5
Regarding Asha's comment I cannot disagree more.
What a miserable person you are - you cannot control nature and if the dolphins arent willing to come and entertain you then that's just nature. Everyone takes this same risk.
However, on the day I and my daughter went out we had a great day playing with a pod of aroun 80 dolphins. The weather was great there was great activity and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Even if there had been no dolphins the scenery and the pleasant boat ride would have been more than enough to compensate.
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5.0/5
Me and my dad spend the last day in New Zealand with Dolphin Seasafaris and it was without discussion the best activity we did in New Zealand.
Saw at least 60-70 wild dolphins under just 3 hours, The crew was also very professional and kindly, it didnt feel like this origianly touristthing, It was more like a couple of hours adventure. I really enjoy this trip!!!
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5.0/5
What a brilliant day we had!
Saw so many dolphins and although we didn't get to go free swimming as these dolphins were definitely on a mission, the 3rd time going on the swim bar saw so many under and ahead of us.... so very cool and so well worth the money. The crew are fantastic, extremely knowledegable. People, dolphins are wild animals... you just can't tell what you are going to get on the day. Hubby even wanted to go back out again! This company is very professional and approachable, and really know their stuff. We will be back!!
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3.5/5
It was a great half day.
We saw a lot of Dolphins and this was very nice, but we only saw 3 Dolphin, when we went into the water.
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4.5/5
Very friendly crew on board our boat, the skipper Cameron had a very positive attitude and was very helpful with information in general.
We got to see a lot of dolphins in their natural environment.
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1.5/5
Nice crew and that is the only positive point.
We ended up seeing three dolphins and not looking for more. We were supposed to swim with them. It would have been a polite gesture to offer another possibility to catch them.
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4.0/5
We did not really see dolphins but the guide was really nice and we spent a great time after all.
Oh! we saw whales so that made it worth it.
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5.0/5
Guide was really friendly, experienced and a lot of knowledge of the sea and animals.
We saw a pod of dolphins and did some fishing.
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5.0/5
Such an amazing trip with such a friendly crew....
the best 30th i mean 20 10th ever.... thanks for the present too.... love my tshirt and got to see 2 whalesand many dolphins -one even touched my good :)
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4.5/5
Very friendly crew on board our boat, the skipper Cameron had a very positive attitude and was very helpful with information in general.
We got to see a lot of dolphins in their natural environment.
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1.5/5
Nice crew and that is the only positive point.
We ended up seeing three dolphins and not looking for more. We were supposed to swim with them. It would have been a polite gesture to offer another possibility to catch them.
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5.0/5
What a brilliant day we had!
Saw so many dolphins and although we didn't get to go free swimming as these dolphins were definitely on a mission, the 3rd time going on the swim bar saw so many under and ahead of us.... so very cool and so well worth the money. The crew are fantastic, extremely knowledegable. People, dolphins are wild animals... you just can't tell what you are going to get on the day. Hubby even wanted to go back out again! This company is very professional and approachable, and really know their stuff. We will be back!!
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5.0/5
Me and my dad spend the last day in New Zealand with Dolphin Seasafaris and it was without discussion the best activity we did in New Zealand.
Saw at least 60-70 wild dolphins under just 3 hours, The crew was also very professional and kindly, it didnt feel like this origianly touristthing, It was more like a couple of hours adventure. I really enjoy this trip!!!
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5.0/5
Regarding Asha's comment I cannot disagree more.
What a miserable person you are - you cannot control nature and if the dolphins arent willing to come and entertain you then that's just nature. Everyone takes this same risk.
However, on the day I and my daughter went out we had a great day playing with a pod of aroun 80 dolphins. The weather was great there was great activity and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Even if there had been no dolphins the scenery and the pleasant boat ride would have been more than enough to compensate.
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0.5/5
This tour was extremely dissapionting!!
My partner and i only had 1 day in Tauranga since we were doing a road trip. We saw NO dolphins let alone swim with any, we were on that boat from 8am until 230pm looking for dolphins. We didn't even see fish, whales, seals nothing. I was actually suprised this tour still went a head because we went on the 05/01/2012 not long after that ship wrecked just off the mount. So not only had we wasted our only day in Tauranga, but we didn't get a reffund but were given a voucher for another trip which is valid for 3 months and only to that person so i couldn't give it to friends who live in mount maunganui and to top that off they said to get onto the tour you must call tell them the day you want to go and they will get back to you IF there is a vaccancy. There were also a few people on that trip and it was their second time out there because their first tour was unsuccessful as well. In conclusion, if you are willing to take the risk in losing your money and a full day of your holiday then do, but if not i would not advise doing this kind of thing, especially the weather in NZ being so unpredictable as well.
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5.0/5
This could not have been a better trip!
We had been on a dolphin tour some years previously in the Bay of Islands, and on that occassion saw only 5 or 6 dolphins. Our expectations therefore were at this level, so imagine our delight when, after some thorough and persistent searching, we encountered a pod of over 250 dolphins! We got to swim with the dolphins 5 or 6 times, and the captain and crew could not have been better.
Ignore the rantings of 'Edwards' review below - I think he must have been on a different boat to the one we were on! My advice - if you are travelling to NZ with the intention of swimming with Dolphins, don't take a risk with anyone else!
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3.5/5
It was a great half day.
We saw a lot of Dolphins and this was very nice, but we only saw 3 Dolphin, when we went into the water.
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5.0/5
Brilliant day, comfortable boat and fresh refreshments provided.
Great swim and interaction with beautiful dolphins. Very well run trip, lovely day out.
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0.5/5
Poor reception, met in carpark, no office, no instruction, swimbar useless, no dolphin to view, staff useless, like putting your face in a jacquzi, unprofessional!
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5.0/5
Had the most amazing experience on the 11/01/10 morning trip.
The conditions were not perfect but the crew & captain did their upmost to make this a complete & natural experience. Which is a big relief in comparison to other trips I have been on. The crew consists of mostly marine biologists with a passion for their job which is only sup past by the Captains passion & knowledge. The conditions meant that the dolphin swim was brief but exhilarating. However on return to the bay we had a magnificent encounter with a pod of Orca which we watched feeding on Sting Ray for over an hour,with one huge male touching the side of the boat at one point. After dropping the other passengers off at mt maunganui we had another fabulous encounter as followed the pod come right into the harbour under the bridge & watched the large male Orca inquisitively mirror a small sail boat for a short period. This was truly a trip of a life time.
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5.0/5
This was an absolutely fabulous experience.
It was the single best part of our two week visit to NZ. We were very lucky and saw many large pods of common dolphins and were able to interact with them on the swim bar and during a free swim. We were lucky to see this many dolphins.
Even notwithstanding the dolphins (over which the crew has no control), the team on the boat was great. They were helpful, friendly and professional. I would highly recommend this experience.
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4.0/5
A great day trip out on the boat.
Unpredicatable re: how many Dolphins you will see " Swimming with the dolphins" a bit misleading (involvesbeing in the water for only 5mins + dolphins in the distance) others may be more lucky but a great opportunity to se them
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5.0/5
what an amazing day out we have had.
We saw hundreds of seabirds diving amongst so many dolphins feeding wherever we looked around us. The skipper said there were over 200 dolphins feeding on small fish with the birds. they were diving all around us. an awesome experience for my family who had a really sweet time in the water on the swimbars. super clear water and heaps of dolphins under the kids. We also saw a huge sunfish.
crew were so helpful with the kids, awesome time. lovely spacious comfortable boat and good info from the skipper. totally recommended and we will definately go again next year.
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4.5/5
Very comfortable boat, wonderful crew who were very patient and understanding with our kids.
Crew are all very knowledgeable, very polite and extremely helpful. We had a marvellous half day out, loads of dolphins to see, muffins and fruit to eat as well as coffee on demand. I would highly recommend Dolphin Seafaris!
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5.0/5
What an incredible day we have had, dolphin swimming in New Zealand was our No1 must do experience and went out with Dolphin Seafaris in Tauranga as we really liked their website on first impressions whilst
planning our holiday.
The trip was amazing, The skipper found a large pod of 70+Common dolphins within 15 mins and we tried a bar swim that was cool. We then went on to find a pod of bottlenose dolphins and had the most amazing free swim with the huge dolphins swimming right beside and around us. I had two dolphins come and look right into my mask. They look so huge underwater.
My wife was so overcome with joy from such a close up experience she is still in tears thinking about it. Top marks for the professional crew, the whole tour and commentary from the skipper and service from a real nice crew. They really know their onions! Nice boat, Thanks guys so much you have made our whole holiday worth the long haul. These guys are just the best!!
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5.0/5
2 fantastic trips on 2 days, so good we had to come back!
This organisations is totally professional, ethical and suuuch fun. Thay won't take you out if they think the weather is not suitable just to get your money. Thay are very up front about this being a real wildlife experience in an enviromemt they fully understand but cannot control. On our first trip we saw nothing for 3 1/2hours then had a 90 minute performance from a pod of bottle nose too close to the harbour to swim. We went back the next day and immediately found a pod of common dolphins feeding and jumping and tried an unsucessful swim . We moved on to a series of fantastic swims with a pod of bottle nose,something I will never forget.
After more than 30 years of this work this team are as well informed as you would expect but have an enthusiasm and passion for marine mammals that has to be seen to be believed.
Try it for yourselves.
Jim
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4.0/5
A well organised half day trip - we were unlucky not to be able to swim with the dolphins but we did see some and the crew are very knowledgeable + respectful of the animals.
