It was 5:30am and despite the darkness, my obvious drowsiness, and the cold, I was excited. Today I was going to swim with wild dolphins in Kaikoura.
I heard the earliest trip of the day was the best opportunity for seeing the dolphins, so here I was, at 5:45am, hoping this uncomfortably early start would be worth it.
It turned out that quite a few people had the same idea, and around fifty of us were sent to various rooms to hear the details of the upcoming trip, get our wetsuits, our flippers, and snorkel gear. We boarded buses as the sun started to rise and headed 20 minutes down the coast to the dock where we were split into 3 different boats. To find the dolphins, the three boats spread out in varying distances from the coast and head parallel to the shore whilst keeping an eye out for the massive pods. The first boat to spot the dolphins alerts the other two which gun their engines and race to meet the pod.
The Kaikoura coast of New Zealand is one of the few places in the world to swim with wild dolphins for a number of unique reasons. First, just off the coast is the Kaikoura Canyon which runs 60km parallel to the shoreline and is over 1200 meters deep. This deep canyon hosts a number of large schools of fish and squid which attracts an assortment of whale and dolphin species enticed by the rich hunting grounds. The second reason Kaikoura is uniquely suited for wild dolphin encounters is that the most abundant dolphin in the area is the dusky dolphin. This is perfect because the dusky dolphin, compared with other species of dolphin, are very inquisitive, renowned for acrobatic arial displays, regularly travel in pods of over one thousand, and are smaller than the common dolphin which makes them less frightening, especially for children, in the water. Lastly, the dusky dolphins spend the night deep in the canyon hunting, so their morning back on the surface is dedicated to relaxation and fun. All of these scenarios come together for a perfect encounter opportunity.
For around 30 minutes we roared down the coast with no sign of a pod. Then a report came in that the furthest boat from us had sighted them. We turned in their direction and gunned the engines. After about 10 minutes we started to see in the the distance some of the flips and huge arial displays the Dusky dolphins are known for. The captain grabbed myself and a few others that were all geared up and helped us to the very back of the boat. We were still chugging along at a decent pace as the captain told us to sit and hold on tight until the engine stopped and we should hop in. I just happened to be the first swimmer of this group so I was sitting on the very edge of the back of the boat as the captain shouted these directions to us over the roar of the engine. I honestly felt like I was in the military and I was about to hop out of a chopper.
I tried to control my anxiety, and scan the water for dolphins which I hadn’t seen since I became seated. As I wondered if we were near the dolphin pod yet, a dusky dolphin jumped from the water so close that I actually raised my arms in self defense because I subconsciously thought that it might land right on top of me. It honestly scared the hell out of me. My mind then entered panic mode: these are completely wild animals! I’m in the middle of the ocean! I’m straddling the engine of a boat with my feet dangling in the water! What am I doing!? I had always loved watching dolphins, but until you’re in the position I was in: sitting at the waters edge, with your feet dangling in the dark open ocean, on the back of a moving boat…and then a wild dolphin suddenly jumps seemingly right at you, you really shouldn’t judge me and my apprehension.
The engine slowed, I heard the captain yell for us to go, and without letting myself think about what I was doing, I pushed myself off the boat. The first thing I saw in the great blue abyss was a dolphin heading away from me. As I watched that dolphin slowly disappear, another one darted in from the left for a closer look. As the dolphin flew by me, we locked eyes and suddenly my anxiety was gone. Completely gone. There was no fight-or-flight response, no concerns, no apprehension, I was completely at ease. Something about their eyes just made me instinctively comfortable around them.
More and more dolphins circled in for a look at us. We saw around two dozen, but after the dolphins got a good look, they got bored, and headed off. So we hopped back into the boat and went searching for more. After about 15 minutes, the boat slowed, we heard the command from the captain and jumped back in. This time we hit the jackpot. The pod was in the hundreds, and they were excited to have some entertainment. The dolphins were everywhere. If you dove down, the dolphins would swarm towards you, feeling less threatened about approaching you when you were off the surface. Quite often a dolphin would approach, we’d lock eyes, and the dolphin would slowly circle me as I paddled to keep up with him and stay in eye contact. The dolphin would slowly increase the speed until I couldn’t turn as quickly and he’d win the staring contest. We were told not to touch the dolphins, and I never did, but they were so inquisitive it would have been very easy to flaunt that rule.
Eventually the other swimmers got tired or cold and I found myself with just one other swimmer in the water and about two dozen dolphins to entertain. The whole experience was better than I could ever have imagined and continues to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. I highly recommend it.