Experience a dolphin cruise in Akaroa and encounter the Hector's dolphin, the world’s smallest and rarest.
Experience a dolphin cruise in Akaroa and encounter the world’s smallest and rarest marine dolphin – the endangered Hector’s dolphin. Cruise past Akaroa’s dramatic volcanic sea cliffs, fur seal colonies, and marine birdlife, all while gaining insight into the area’s rich natural and cultural history.
Black Cat Cruises are leaders in eco-tourism. During your cruise with us, you’ll discover the fascinating behaviors of Akaroa’s wildlife, learn about conservation efforts aimed at repopulating Hector’s dolphins, and explore how we can all contribute to their thriving future for generations to come.
Dolphins are sighted on 95% of our trips, if you do not see dolphins, we will give you a voucher to go again another day. Voted one of the top 101 things to do in New Zealand by local New Zealanders!
My husband and I and our 2 daughters went on the cruise. We all loved it, we seen dolphins, seals and even a penguin. The staff are very friendly. We will definitely do the cruise again. We would recommend everyone to do the cruise.
This is the 3rd time I have done the nature harbour cruise and I loved it. It’s such an enjoyable experience and well worth the cost.
We enjoyed our cruise - friendly staff, good spaces to watch or get out of the weather, and lots of dolphins and beautiful scenery. The 2 hour harbour cruise felt like a good length.
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mazz from Australia wrote on 31 October 2025
Awesome trip
Weather wasnt in our favour on our cruise day as it was quite windy and tad wet and sadly no dolphin wanted to play about with us - few penguins bobbing around and some seals lazing about - but it was a nice outing none the less. Beautiful part of the world !