Honeymooners
South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
4.5/5
Great experience with friendly, helpful staff who had an amazing knowledge of all the wildlife we saw (not just the whales).
This operator really looks after its clients with warnings on seasickness prior to departure, comfortable buses and boats and plenty of staff on board to answer questions and educate you on the marine environment.
The skipper made great use of the time we spent at sea with 2 sightings of the same whale and a quick trip to see a seal colony (located in calmer waters) in between whilst the whale was diving.
North Island ▷ Manawatu - Wanganui ▷ Whanganui River ▷
4.5/5
An exceptional operator who made our trip down the river a great one.
A family run business where all family members are very knowledgeable about the trip. Great, top quality equipment including wooden paddles, high quality barrels and excellent maps.
Pre departure email contact from the UK was helpful and really helped planning.
Our only disaapoinent was the return transfer which was not particulary efficient.
Cannot recommend Blazing Paddles highly enough!
South Island ▷ Fiordland ▷ Milford Sound - Fiordland National Park ▷
1.5/5
Overcrowded campsite and facilities.
We got the impression that there were simply too many people being packed into too small a space in both the buildings and on the campsite. Unhelpful staff did not help the experience. This was the worst place we stayed during our month in NZ.
South Island ▷ Kaikoura Region ▷ Kaikoura ▷
5.0/5
A great operator who do everything you can to get you the best experience of swimming with dolphins.
The equipment for swimming and the boat were new and of high quality. A lot of time and effort went into making sure things fitted and that we knew how to use our snorkels, masks etc.
We swam with a pod of 400 dolphins 3 times, the boat moving us into the middle of the pod each time it began to move away.
Whilst on the boat we were well looked after, with hot chocolate and ginger biscuits and the skipper was exceptional at spotting and explaining other local wildlife including albatrosses, seals, sharks and other birds.
This was an unforgettable experience, a real highlight of our month in NZ.
South Island ▷ Nelson Region ▷ Abel Tasman ▷
2.0/5
A great place to sea kayak with generally friendly, helpful staff.
Equipment was old and in places not really useable. Our boat had a hole in it which when we pointed out on return from a 3 day trip they informed us they had known about in advance. Paddles and spraydecks also old and not performing to specification.
We had booked single sea kayaks but were told on arrival it was not possible for us to have singles which was a disappointment.
Adjoining campsite convinient but old and dirty.