Best dolphin tours in Picton, we saw some Dosky and Hector dolphins in one day. Guide lady was really a bubbly person and she is always trying her best to help people.
We had such a great time this morning with Captain Paul and crew on the swimming with dolphins tour. They really went out of their way to show us as much life as possible seals, dusky dolphins, bottle nose. I sincerely respect and appreciate how conscious they are about what's good for the dolphins too. Seeing them free and wild, giving them space and letting them decide if they wanted to interact made it more rewarding.
Absolutely amazing! Went on the 9am cruise with about 8 other people and had a blast. The boat was great with plenty of room for everyone (even a bathroom). The crew (Tristan as captain) was kind, extremely knowledgeable, and worked hard to make sure we all had a great experience. We saw tons of marine and bird wildlife even some Hector's Dolphins! Highly recommend these guys and if you're in Picton go on this cruise!
Took us out on a very informative and enjoyable tour of the Marlborough Sounds
Very friendly staff and excellent boat excursion. They offer a full refund if you do not see any aquatic mammals, but that is highly unlikely.
Too expensive for what it is - we took a similar tour in Whitianga for only $65/pp and the water was much warmer for swimming and there was a lot more interesting scenery. Maybe it was just a bad day but only saw 1 dolphin and a few fur seals. Spent 3 out of the 4 hours just driving around.
My husband and I booked the swimming tour for $160NZD pp ($100 for watching and an extra $60 for swimming) but we ended up only seeing Hector's dolphins (which is really nice though). The lady in charge of looking for the dolphins used "powerful binoculars", but couldn't find any species we could swim with (Hector's dolphins are protected).
The tour is nice but I think the nice lady could have been a bit more motivated to spot the animals.
We were refunded $50NZD pp. Hence, we did a nice tour of 3-4 hrs of the Queen Elizabeth sounds although our aim was to swim with dolphins.
Goodish tour - saw some cool stuff, but were non-consensually filmed for promotional material which meant, for instance, hanging around doing things we didn't want to do on Motuara Island, which I found to be a bit annoying. The captain also got into an argument with a kayaker on the way home, with both accusing the other of cutting them up. Not particularly professional there.
This tour was a delight. The guide, Jack, and boat driver, Paul, were so great! They knew so much about wildlife of NZ and are even involved in helping the endangered animals in the area, they're great.
We saw so many Dolphins, a family of seals, lots of awesome birds (including penguins!!!), and the boat ride and hike were just lovely. They were both such a good mix of fun and informative. I am SO glad I did this little cruise.