Seal Swim Kaikoura — Local services in Kaikōura

We went out and did see one seal who was a lot of fun to swim with and didn’t mind having us all around. My lower star count is more based on feeling unwelcome with the company. When I first arrived the staff seemed uninterested in answering the questions I had, which seemed pretty basic, like “should I bring a towel.” Then while swimming the guide made a somewhat aggressive comment about ripping my camera out of my hand if I “put it in that seals business.” As far as I could tell I was holding the camera in front of me not reaching out for the seal at all. If he had a problem though, there might be a more polite way to express it given almost everyone is there trying to respect the environment. He also made some comments about living in the moment without a camera. Which is easy for someone who lives around these animals every day to say. I should have asked him if he goes to Paris and doesn’t take pictures of the Eiffel Tower. Also as an aside, I think they advertise 95% success rate because they cancel the trips that don’t have conditions for success. Not their fault if the weather or seals aren’t cooperating. But just so you know that the odds could be a tad lower than you think to swim...

We had an amazing and unforgettable experience. We appreciated that even though they were having random bus troubles, they still managed to accommodate us and didn’t cancel. It’s small groups which is nice and staff was friendly and fun; who could hate that job?! We loved it every aspect from the views of the Kaikoura Peninsula from the boat to just getting to snorkel in the water, which in the gear was comfortable. It was amazing just to be so close to the seals on the rocks and observe them but about four individual seals got into the water with our group to swim amongst us for about the entire excursion. They were darting in between us all and even brushing up against us. To see them leap in the water near you as well as observe them under the water as they approach you was thrilling and unique. Your time and money is well spent at Seal...

This is a fantastic wildlife tour operator, and our experience on their tour was one of the very best wildlife encounters I've had. We had up close encounters with more seals than we could count, and saw the full range of seal demogrqphics - mothers, pups, juveniles, bulls... we even got a fantastic view of a seal eating her octopus lunch (with appalling table manners, if you must know). A couple of the seals came so close to me that I was slapped with a flipper ( very gently!) And yet it was a wonderfully non-intrusive experience, with the seals getting to make all their own decisions about how much interaction they wanted. All of the wildlife watching activities we've done in Kaikoura have been excellent, but this was by far the most exciting. I can't recommend this experience highly enough, and will definitely be back for more...