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Kaikoura Whale Watching Flight - 40 Minutes - Community Owned & Operated

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Embark on an aerial journey in Kaikoura, where you'll witness majestic sperm whales, playful dolphins, and breathtaking landscapes from the skies. Don't miss this opportunity to witness the wonders of marine life and scenic beauty all in one incredible journey.

Highlights

30+ years of whale watching experience with a 100% safety record
Top rated customer reviews
Breath-taking Kaikoura Scenery
Enjoy informative commentary through listening headsets
Community Owed & Operated Organisation
Qualmark Silver Award

Experience Kaikoura's most spectacular marine scenic flight with the region's most experienced flight operator!

From the comfort of your window seat, witness the awe-inspiring beauty of whales, dolphins, and breathtaking scenery. Only from the air can you truly grasp the sheer size of the majestic sperm whale in its natural habitat, providing unparalleled photographic opportunities. During our flight, you might also encounter dusky dolphins, humpback whales, blue whales, orca, and other fascinating marine creatures. After the exhilarating whale encounter, we'll take you on a scenic journey over Kaikoura and its stunning surroundings, with the snow-clad peaks of the Kaikoura mountains and the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean as an impressive backdrop.

At Air Kaikoura, we're a small, friendly, locally operated business with a passionate team dedicated to providing you with the experience of a lifetime. While we can't guarantee wildlife sightings as we're observing animals in their natural habitat, we boast an impressive 95% success rate and always provide honest assessments of the day's chances for whale sightings.

Our Scenic Whale Watching Flight offers you the best odds of spotting these magnificent creatures from the air.

Adult $275.00

Child $115.00 (2 - 12 years)

What's included

40 minute scenic flight
Guaranteed Window Seat
Headsets for Live Commentary

Duration

Allow approximately 90 minutes for the whole experience

Location

Air Kaikoura is located 6.5km south of Kaikoura township, on State Highway 1
We’re located at Kaikoura Airport, about a 10-minute drive south of Kaikoura. When you arrive at the airport, turn right, and you’ll find us in the southernmost building.
Free parking is available.

Child Friendly

This experience welcomes families with children.

Bad Weather Refunds

If your experience is cancelled by the operator (because of the bad weather, safety concerns, unscheduled maintenance etc) you will be entitled to a full refund.

Notes

Duration: Flight time 40 minutes. Please allow for 90 minutes total.
Capacity: Our fixed wing aircraft takes a maximum of seven passengers, this makes it exciting and fun.
Conditions: Flights are weather dependent and at the pilots' discretion.
Minimum numbers apply.
Maximum weights do apply in small aircraft; if you think you may exceed 120kgs, please contact the operator to discuss.
Check in is 30 minutes prior to your flight time. Flight times may be adjusted to align with whale diving patterns, which can result in earlier departures. If you are not present at the check-in time, the flight may depart without you.
The activity requires minimum numbers in order to operate
Flights are weather dependent. A full refund will be given if the flight cannot operate due to poor weather conditions
While we do everything possible to locate whales, they are wild animals, and sightings cannot be guaranteed. Refunds or rescheduling are not available if whales are not sighted, but were confident youll love the stunning scenery and the unique opportunity to experience Kaikuras incredible landscapes and marine environment from above.
Infants-11kg & Under (Sitting on an adults lap). Above this weight will be charged a child price.

Available Bookings from25 Mar to 7 Apr 2026

All prices are shown inNZD ($)

Change Dates

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Adult$200.00 Less than 6 at this price!
Child$115.00

Adult$220.00 Less than 6 at this price!
Child$115.00

Adult$185.00 Less than 6 at this price!
Child$115.00

Adult$185.00 Less than 6 at this price!
Child$115.00

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Fantastic whale watching flight with Air Kaikoura

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Authenticated Reviews

Real highlights, tips, and the helpful advice straight from Bookme customers who’ve actually done this experience, summarised with AI support

emergency客户称赞知识渊博且友好的飞行员，使体验愉快且富有信息性（30人表示）。
emergency许多人喜欢从空中欣赏凯库拉海岸线和海洋生物的壮丽景色（25人表示）。
emergency流畅的登记过程和良好的组织体验得到了积极反馈（15人表示）。
emergency看到多种海洋生物的机会，包括抹香鲸和海豚，是许多人的亮点（20人表示）。
emergency该企业的社区拥有性质受到赞赏，为体验增添了特别的色彩（10人表示）。
emergency总体而言，客户在整个飞行过程中感到安全和受到良好照顾（18人表示）。
star_shine带上相机以拍摄壮丽的景色.
考虑在晴天预订以获得最佳能见度.

5 Stars

660

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4.7

801 reviews

Kaikoura Whale Watching Flight - 40 Minutes - Community Owned & Operated

Showing all 801 authenticated Bookme reviews

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henryw15 from China wrote on 03 March 2026

很棒的观鲸体验

很特别很喜欢的一次体验，很幸运看到了鲸鱼和很多海豚，驾驶员经验丰富，并给我们详细讲解，同行的小朋友也很开心

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From Kaikoura Whale Watching Flight - 40 Minutes - Community Owned & Operated

Thank you for coming to fly with! So happy hear you enjoyed your flight, glad we got to show you beautiful Kaikoura and our amazing marine life.

liuhuiz from China wrote on 03 December 2025

很棒的体验

非常好，看到了鲸鱼和海豚

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From Kaikoura Whale Watching Flight - 40 Minutes - Community Owned & Operated

Thanks for flying with us! We are happy to hear you enjoyed your flight.

KitMan Choi from Hong Kong wrote on 26 May 2024

超級值得！

係呢40分鐘既旅程我地睇到殺人鯨、海豚同抹香鯨！我坐呢間公司佢地既員工好眼利同專業我地係最快搵到抹香鯨既小型飛機由頭睇到落尾！同埋當我地睇到抹香鯨時我先見架觀光船係遠一遠到駛過黎已經錯過左好幾分鐘我覺得坐呢個小型飛機比坐船更值得而且可以睇得到抹香鯨同其他生物對比既分別

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Yuzhong Wang from China wrote on 18 April 2024

坐飞机观鲸

服务好，飞行员的服务非常好，飞机飞行平稳，一路上都有讲解。看到了数量巨多的海豚，飞行员会将飞机侧倾方便观鲸，盘旋侧倾让两边客人都能看到。遗憾的是没有看到大鲸鱼。主要目的是观鲸，没有看到鲸鱼，这样的飞行就没有意义。还不退款，不建议参加这个项目。还是坐船观鲸比较好

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zhi chen from China wrote on 26 February 2023

很棒的体验。

挺不错的，本来预定的是两点，但因为他们提前发现了鲸鱼，就一直联系我们，主动帮我调整时间叫我们可以最大可能看到鲸鱼。驾驶员也是个很热情的妹子，讲解的也很清楚。总之体验很棒，下次再来还会参加。

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Bookme Help Terms & Conditions Operators

10:00 a.m.Thursday 13 July

Adult

Child 2 - 12 years

^*This option must be made together with another price type.

When you see the Qualmark logo, your activity of choice is endorsed by New Zealand Tourism's official quality assurance organisation and backed by leaders in the industry. It's your trusted guide to iconic activities and experiences that are awarded for their exceptionally high level of quality, safety and sustainability.

Qualmark Gold

This award recognises the best sustainable tourism businesses in New Zealand. It denotes exceptional customer experiences at the heart of everything the company does. This business is leading the way in making the New Zealand tourism industry a world class sustainable visitor destination.

Qualmark Silver

This award is evidence of a sophisticated tourism business that consistently exceeds visitor expectations. Their proactive leadership and management ensure the business's focus on continuously improving their economic, social and environmental performance to create genuine, constantly evolving and sustainable tourism experiences.

Qualmark Bronze

The Qualmark Bronze award recognizes a business that operates with a high level of professionalism, is mindful of its environmental impact, and is dedicated to putting customers first.