Black Cat Cruises

Overview

Many people dream of swimming with dolphins and Akaroa's protected harbour is the place to make those dreams come true. Plus, Akaroa is the only place in the world you can swim with the smallest and rarest Hector's dolphin. Black Cat Cruises operate the dolphin swimming and suggest booking in advance as they only take out 12 swimmers at a time. You'll spend about an hour with the dolphins and you might even see some fur seals, too.

It'll set you back $160 to swim with the dolphins or $89 to watch and Black Cat Cruises donates a portion of all ticket sales back into research of the Hector's dolphin. Nice. There's also a dolphin guarantee policy which means you'll get 50 percent of your money back if you don't get to see any dolphins. Though, Black Cat Cruises see dolphins on 97 percent of cruises, so it's highly likely you'll get up close and personal with these majestic sea mammals.