Dolphin Seafaris NZ Ltd — Attraction in Bay of Plenty

We had an incredible day out on the water with Captain Cam and his crew!! It look us a long longer than is apparently normal to find the dolphins, but Cam did not give up! We stayed out there about half an hour longer than the tour was scheduled to hear back in, but that half hour ended up being the magical moment!! After trying unsuccessfully to find the dolphins for about 5 hours, the ever-persistent crew FINALLY spotted a huge pod and we made our way there. Seeing the dolphins swim around under the bow of our boat, in crystal clear deep blue water, will go down as one of the best memories I've ever made. We did get to jump in to the water and I think about half our party saw dolphins from underwater, but our pod was way more interested in whatever they were feeding on than our swimmers. This was a little bit of a shame, but as the crew explained these are truly wild animals - we don't control them so all we can do is hope they're feeling sociable. I also wanted to call out how wonderful the crew were with a little girl who became unwell. They bent over backwards to help this little girl and her family, only to have it thrown back in their face with a complaint. Be wary of this review if it hits - the mother in particular was being completely unreasonable. THANK YOU Captain Cam and the crew of the Dolphin Safaris for such a...

Staff were really lovely and knowledgeable. From start to finish when they welcomed us, ensured we knew what was happening and entertained us with all their knowledge and stories. We saw a huge dolphin pod which was really cool. However I feel that for what it is it isn’t worth the cost. First 3 hours were spent looking for the dolphins, we then spent about 40 minutes with the pod before spending the remainder of our time cruising around. It seemed like once the pod was found not much more effort was put in for any substance on the tour. There’s really a huge amount of potential for this tour to be awesome but it needs more structure and transparency. I also feel like it was well overbooked. If we had the chance to swim with the dolphins, well over 30 people would have been doing so which doesn’t seem like the best idea to ensure a good experience for all. Overall if you have never seen dolphins and are wanting to do so then this will get it ticked off your list. If you are wanting to swim with dolphins at $150 it is a gamble and in my opinion you are better off trying one of the options in the...

I thought I would give a 2 star because the boat ride and seeing dolphins from the boat was pretty neat but the swimming with dolphins was nothing like I expected!! Firstly the eye pieces don't cater for those who wear glasses which means u can't see any dolphins in this case so very disappointed, secondly you hold on to the rail and dip your head in as the boat is going at a distance so you either had to be quick to try spot one or u just see bubbles.. I struggled to breathe as my body was going to shock with the water temp so I need a moment to relax and catch my breath which I couldn't do because it was very limited on time. The other people who sat on the front of the boat were there for ages seeing dolphins up close and didn't give anyone else a chance to see them, so maybe staff need to monitor that. I certainly didn't feel I got my full experience but the staff were lovely and I did see dolphins from the...