Kaikoura is a globally recognized birding hotspot. A short fifteen-minute boat ride out from the Kaikoura coast and you’re in an entirely new world. It’s a feeling of total freedom and wonder.
The crew will bring the birds in with a bunch of enticing ‘chum’, which will allow you to get a real, wild, up close encounter with these impressive birds!
The list of seabirds sighted off the Kaikoura Coast include five species of great albatross, up to ten species of the smaller lesser albatross (commonly referred to as mollymawks), ten species of shearwaters, fifteen species of petrel, and several other species of seabirds such as shags, prions, penguins, gulls and terns.
You’re on-board a boat designed just for this experience, giving you the best perspectives to watch and take photos. With a maximum of only 13 others on each tour, it’s an intimate and special experience that brings you as close to the wildlife as possible. For those budding photographers it’s a dream come true!
The highly knowledgeable staff, on-board identification guides and souvenir information pack, will help you learn about what you’re seeing – or you can just stand back and let the wonder of nature overwhelm your senses.
Why is this this Chuffed Worthy?
This is definitely unique – to be out on the open ocean with these colossal birds up close is something you will never forget. You will learn as much as you see and we love that in a good tourism experience. We also love that part of every visitor fee contributes to to the Encounter Foundation that aims to enhance and preserve marine environments through tourism. A very worthy cause indeed.
