From the owner: Wings Over Whales Kaikoura provide whale watching flights, scenic air tours and private aircraft…read morecharter. Our professional and experienced team deliver a friendly flying experience, where the comfort and safety of each passenger is paramount. Whale watching by aeroplane offers a unique perspective and the opportunity to view whales and dolphins in their natural environment. From the air passengers can experience the true magnitude of the world's largest mammal, the whale. These animals can reach an impressive 18 metres in length and weigh up to 60 tonne! Wings Over Whales Kaikoura operate high-winged aircraft, which allows each person their own window seat and optimal, unobstructed viewing.

What a wonderful experience! Several tours are offered and we did the one that had us swimming with…read morethe Dusky Dolphins. What impressed me most was how passionate everyone we came in contact was about the environment and the dolphins, stressing that we were visiting their environment and had to respect it. Swimming with the dolphins is authorized by the Department of Conservation permits which limits the number of swimmers on each tour and also the number of tours that can be operated each day (for example, the dolphins usually "rest" in the early afternoon so no tours go out at that time). You can still be on the boat and watch if you are hesitant about being in the water. Full wetsuits and snorkeling masks are provided and we had up to three opportunities to swim with the dolphins. After the swimming sessions are over, there are plenty of photo opportunities. There is also a cafe where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast and a gift shop with unique items available. The Kaikoura Area was hit with a devastating earthquake three years ago and the only road to town was damaged, essentially cutting the area off from the rest of the South Island so I was especially happy to see that this business has survived.

Kaikoura is well-known for its marine attractions, and Dolphin Encounter certainly is one of the…read moremain places to visit/do here. Only issue is, everyone else knows that as well, so our group was quite large, with little personal briefing before the start, more "please watch this intro video first" style. That said, thankfully we got divided into two boats, and Encounter Kaikoura certainly knows how to deal with many people, so everything was well organized. Looking for the dolphins took a while, but that was okay since we were on the first tour of the day, so we could enjoy the very early morning sun, definitely worth a recommendation. Once found, we were quickly sent into the water and immediately had a few dolphins around us. This is something everyone who loves animals shouldn't miss, and an absolutely stunning experience. After a hot shower and changing on board (some may feel a lack of privacy at that point), we had a short opportunity to watch and photograph while the dolphins were playing around the boat, including some very young ones. If you visit Kaikoura, going at arms-lengths with dolphins is something you definitely want to do, though some may prefer the more personal dolphin experience at lesser-known Picton. Or just do both!

Ohau Point Lookout is a great place to stop. Imagine this - you'r driving down the road, a scenic…read morecoastal highway. Then, there's a sizeable parking lot on the side of the road. There's no buildings around, just the parking lot. You pull over, get out of the car and have a look out toward the ocean. Seals! Lots of them, and you're closer than you'd think you'd get to them. This is a great place to stop. You'll get a good view of the seals. They're far enough below you that people don't interfere with them, but they're close enough that you can get a pretty good look at them. This was a pleasant surprise, and the highlight of our day driving from Blenheim to Christchurch. If you are making that drive, do yourself a favor and spend a few minutes here. You'll be glad you did.

I'd read and heard about his overlook, but it sneaks up on you as you drive north from kaikoura…read more It's maybe 15 minutes north, there's a pretty long pull-out area on the coast side of the 1, but no real parking lot. A little further north is the lot for the walking trail. From the overlook you can look down at the seals on the rocks, including a bunch of pups. There are 2 overlooks spots looking down at 2 different sets of rocks. There's also giant seaweed in the ocean by the rocks and you can see the seals playing in that. You an see the seals from the road, and this can be a very quick stop to look or take a few pictures, then jump back in the car. There isn't anywhere to walk from this shoulder area, it doesn't link up with the waterfall walking trail.

This hostel does it all really good: great and friendly staff, very nice communal areas, large and…read moreclean kitchen, comfy beds, several bathrooms, excellent central location, and all this for a great price! In addition, there are very good house rules which include no alcohol on the premises after 22h00 (or maybe 22h30 I cannot remember the exact time) and no noise after this time either. This is amazing since it guarantees a great night of sleep! I had a bed in a 4-bed female dorm and was lucky enough to have 3 great roomies (all lovely). Craig, the manager I believe, does a great job in managing this place and gives tons of help on what to do in Kaikoura and how to get to certain places. The communal living room is spacious and a great spot for meeting new people. There is a tv with dvd player as well. The kitchen is big with several large fridges and has everything you need. All in all, this was a great place to stay and the fish tank lodge has everything right. Great hostel to stay, and right across the street from the bus stops (where inter city buses stop), and 5 mins walk from train station and whale watching booking centre. A winner!

Loved my tasting at this winery. Very casual tasting. They actually own two wineries. Muddy Waters…read morehas older vines and Greystone has younger. You can tell in the taste but I highly preferred the Greystone wines better. I stopped here on a 4 winery tour. This winery was my favorite of all! So much we bought a bottle of their SB to go. They also sell in the states under the name Greys Peaks. Will be on the look out for them.

Loved it. Small and intimate. We were the only ones tasting the day we stopped by. I normally…read moredon't like Sauvignon blanc but the one here is wonderful. Staff was very nice even giving me some free bubble wrap to get my bottle home.

"Explore Marlborough Wineries By Bike" was a ship tour offered to us while in the Port of Picton…read more We tend to opt for a small group tour while in port, but this caught our eye. It would be a bit physical, scenic and at the same time some fun comparing New Zealand's wine country to our own here in California. This tour had to be one of the best wine tours we've been on. Our guide, Andy picked us up at the ship in a comfortable small van, and narrated along the way as we drove inland to where "Explore Marlborough Wine Tours" has their gear and office. When we arrived we were all able to outfit ourselves with the correct height bicycle, set the correct seat height, get situated with correct helmets, learn the gears, and given safety vests. The bicycles were like new and top notch with a basket for your belongings and a bottle of water & a treat. We went over all safety instructions, and tested our bicycles prior to commencing our ride. We had three really nice winery stops and really enjoyed the ride. The narrative by Andrew when we stopped in the vineyards was so great and super informative with the field harvesting process. Our last stop on the bike ride was at Mahi Winery, which was our favorite. Beautiful grounds, beautiful architecture, beautiful wines! Unbelievably hospitable and generous with their wine, and the fantastic lunch that was prepared by their fabulous chef "Marcia". I'm still trying to replicate the potato green bean dish, the corn with cucumber salad, and the recipe used for the salmon. Oh my gosh it was incredible! After the fantastic lunch, we all jumped in the van and drove back to our starting point for anyone that wanted to purchase wine before driving back to the ship. Sometimes you wonder about your choices of excursions, but at the end this was a no brainer and one of our favorite excursions. We highly recommend this tour, and would probably do it again if it was in our backyard.

From the owner: Explore Marlborough Wine Tours runs guided biking and driving wine tours of the Marlborough wine…read moreregion.

Na Clachan wine tours Easter Sunday, April 21…read more We found this tour company through Cruise Critic recommendation. Our ship docked about ten minutes from town and we took the provided ship's shuttle to the parking lot of the town's tourist information Office. We Met Chris, two other ship passengers and two people on a world tour. Wineries were about 20 minutes outside of Picton and there were plenty to choose from. Chris took us to six wineries where the predominant regional wine was Souvinon Blanc with a smattering or other whites, some Roses and some Pinot Noir. We liked the Pinots best, a much lighter product than our favorite Oregons. We found Chris to be both knowledgeable and gregarious, fun to be with. We found some of the wines a bit repetitive but their take on Pinots exciting. Our tour ended with a visit to a chocolate factory then a trip to a high lookout to photograph our ship. We found the experience fun, entertaining and informative, our six person tour far and away better than the 50 passenger busses from the ship we kept skirting. We highly recommend Na Clatchen for your Picton adventure. PS. Neglected to say tour included stop at winery for lunch which was excellent. Sometimes we were a" wined out" but this break for lunch revived us....until the chocolate. Chocolate we could easily bring on the ship, wine was questionable.

From the owner: Small group wine tours with knowledgeable tour guides. We introduce each winery and provide…read moreinformation on growing grapes and the Marlborough region during the tour. We DONT have a set timed itinerary to ensure a relaxed tour

For $79 pp we purchased a wine tour wristband @ were given a map.. Vans stopped at 26 wineries &…read moreliquor themed venues. Vans came every :30. It took :20 minutes to get to Blenheim for our first winery. A wine museum, gift shop, gin distillery, confectionery, vine village, beer garden ... we drove through magnificent wine country with rolling hills, sheep & of course vineyards. Our driver was knowledgeable sharing info about the area, wines & stops. There were people running to the van @ he was frequently running late. We had time to stop at two wineries for :30 and one for an hour lunch. At the end of the day they checked that everyone made it back to the port. We were told that we shouldn't have an issue getting lunch at any stop. We wouldn't need reservations today. However, there were cruise ships tours & Viacor tours that tied up many kitchens & wine tastings. We would have like to make more stops.

We spent a fantastic day visiting wineries, amazing lunch, and chocolate factory with Cam and his…read moreteam on our private tour arranged by Hop 'n Grape. We were picked up in a great coach at the port (shore excursion) and taken to several wineries in Blenheim and the Marlborough area. We had an amazing lunch and tasting at one local vineyard they put together for us. Additionally, we had many great tastings throughout the day, learned about New Zealand's wine making industry and living in this beautiful part of the country. Cam made this visit so personal and tailored it to our group. We met with winemakers and a local brewmaster. If you go to wine country, Hop n Grape will not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of our trip to New Zealand