amann2

Thanks for the input. We don't stop in Akaroa.. so no swimming with dolphins there. I think we may just do Picton for the wetsuits then!

Also posted this on the NZ ports of call thread, but wasn't sure which one would be more helpful :)

Hello - we will be on the Ovation of the Seas Jan 9-23 sailing from Sydney to NZ. I am really determined to go swimming with dolphins in their natural habitat while we are there. I am debating between doing it in Bay of Islands or Picton, though.

The Bay of Islands tour seems a little better, as we won't need wetsuits. The problem is we already have a small private tour booked in the morning, so it would be 2 tours back to back, with no room to have any free time if we booked the dolphin cruise as well.

In Picton, we also have the option between a seal swim or dolphin swim. If we did the dolphin swim in BofI, then we can do the seal swim in Picton. I emailed the seal swim company though, and they thought we would have better luck finding dolphins to swim with rather than seals.

So I'm somewhat torn, I like the idea of swimming with dolphins in the BofI more - as it seems to have more of the Caribbean/beachy feel we are used to. But I don't want to waste all our our time on tours and not be able to do anything in BofI. Or.. where would we be more likely to actually be able to swim with dolphins?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hello - we will be on the Ovation of the Seas Jan 9-23 sailing from Sydney to NZ. I am really determined to go swimming with dolphins in their natural habitat while we are there. I am debating between doing it in Bay of Islands or Picton, though.

The Bay of Islands tour seems a little better, as we won't need wetsuits. The problem is we already have a small private tour booked in the morning, so it would be 2 tours back to back, with no room to have any free time if we booked the dolphin cruise as well.

In Picton, we also have the option between a seal swim or dolphin swim. If we did the dolphin swim in BofI, then we can do the seal swim in Picton. I emailed the seal swim company though, and they thought we would have better luck finding dolphins to swim with rather than seals.

So I'm somewhat torn, I like the idea of swimming with dolphins in the BofI more - as it seems to have more of the Caribbean/beachy feel we are used to. But I don't want to waste all our our time on tours and not be able to do anything in BofI. Or.. where would we be more likely to actually be able to swim with dolphins?

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!