Had a lovely time on this trip, a birthday treat. Very relaxed and informative on the history of the area. Bit disappointing that we only saw 1 dolphin as they are always a treat to see but that's nature, can't be helped. Saw wee penguin and the fur seals. Definitely worth doing, even for us locals.

Very good cruise with many encounters with dolphin penguin seals Nice commentary by Kate

This is a great voyage, we saw dolphins, seals, and seagulls. Looking forward to participating in other activities of Book Me.

Small group of 8 people + 2 hosts. We were lucky to see so many dolphins and swam with them in two different spots. At a point, we were surrounded by 5 (of course they come and go as they please). We even saw a baby dolphin with its mom. We also navigated to other areas and saw seals and birds, plus having a complementary hot beverage and a snack. They were kind enough to accept my request of having some gluten free cookies for me :). It was great, I think the small group made a huge difference, as we had enough time to swim and enjoy without many people around. Only 4 of us decided to swim that day. I totally recommend it. Gracias!

This is recommended to all that have not been on this trip before. Skipper was lovely. A lot of people due to the cruise ship docked at the time. Me and hubby thoroughly enjoyed it.

The staff were super helpful as soon as I arrived I got my tickets, the staff aboard were also great. Very clear and informative commentary and we got to see a wide variety of wildlife including dolphins, penguins, seals, and even an albatross. I would highly recommend this to anybody visiting Akaroa I would gladly go again!

Great value for money

had a excellent trip. excellent service by john and his son by Southern Wanderer group. really appreciate their service. recommend to everyone

Lots of information and it was stunning while sailing

We had a beautiful time on the tour, great guides local family business, small numbers on the boat, making the experience very personally and very enjoyable. John is very knowledgeable and makes the trip very easy going and fun. Their son is obviously very experienced and comfortable on the water. I would highly recommend this tour to all who want to get out on the water and enjoy the wildlife to be seen.

It was such an amazing experience. Great hosts who were very nice and informative about Akaroa and its wildlife. We were lucky the weather was good and the dolphins were out to play that day. There were just 6 passengers, the experience felt quite relaxed and personalised. I would definitely recommend this.

We booked this because we were staying at Chch, we did not know about this place but we googled and we thought Akaroa would be a nice place to visit. This was the best decision, and the best part of our trip. Akaroa is a lovely place, full of story and this scenic drive was over our expectations! It starts early in the morning and you have a lot to explore with this family-crew. It's great that it's a small boat, so the trip is personalised and they have the time to explain about nature, history and also to show you different animals. This people are nice, warm and they take you to places you will never forget! I recommend it 100%.

We had a great time on the southern wanderer. John and Olly were amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed our ride on the boat. I would recommend booking this cruise for anyone coming to Akaroa

Nice time, enjoyed the boat trip. Lots of wildlife and nature at its best.

Without a doubt this gets 5/5 stars! We had the most amazing day out with John and his son, there were only 4 passengers on board and this made the world of difference. It was such a point of difference being able to move to the other side of the boat with just a step or 2 without being stuck in a crowd when the dolphins were swimming around, and John remembered all of our names throughout the trip, answered all our questions and gave great insight about the area and the wildlife. And then there were the dolphins! We lost count of how many of these little guys we saw and it was beyond special

Family owned business - your guides will take you out into the harbour and offer you a more personalised and tailored wildlife adventure. Highly recommend if you want to see the wildlife and sights of Akoroa at your own pace.

We went out on a very calm, overcast day and were lucky enough to sight about 5 or 6 pods of dolphins, including one swimming straight under the boat near the surface. Loved the small group, very knowledgeable and friendly guides. It felt more like friends were taking us out for a few hours. Would highly recommend to anyone thinking of a wildlife cruise.

My boyfriend and I had a lovely time cruising around the bay in Akaroa with John & Oli. They were really helpful and explained everything we needed to know from the health and safety aspects of the boat to the history of he area and educating us on all the animals we encountered too. We really had a fabulous time with them and were so lucky to come across penguins, a dolphin & an albatross amongst other spectacular birds. We weren’t so lucky with the weather but you can’t have it all. Thanks for a great time chaps!

We started a day in Akaroa with a 2.5 hour scenic sunrise cruise and it was magic. Could not have had a better start to the day. It was the highlight of our stay. The scenery is breathtaking. With a maximum of 8 people, this was perfect for my family. It had a wonderfully personal touch. The crew, Ollie and John, were highly knowledgeable on local sealife, birds and local history. I would highly recommend this cruise to anyone visiting Akaroa.

John and Olly make a wonderful team. Olly with his hawk eyes for spotting animals in the water and John with his fantastic wildlife knowledge. The boat is small so you get to know the other participants you can ask all the questions you like there is no rehearsed speech You will see all the birds and other animals that are around! The orher advantage is the early start - no one else on the water, lovely sunrise, no wind but it can be a bit chilly so dressup warm. Well done guys and keep up the good work! They also hire out trips for groups which might be a good option for a group of friends who aren’t quite into the getting up early thing!

Very interesting and respectful cruise. We had a great time. We saw penguins, fur seals and many ocean birds. highly recommended.

The scenic trip was really awesome. Even though it was cloudy on the day that we went, John and Olly made sure that we had the best view and that we enjoyed every minute of it. The intimate group of 6 is much better than having a huge group 'coz you can hear all the information you needed and less crowded to see the wild life. Totally a must do when in Akaroa. Thank you so much...

We had a wonderful two plus hours with Ollie the skipper and dad John the very knowledgable tour guide. Besides a lot of information on the wild life we saw John also told us a lot of the history of Akaroa and the harbour. It was a lovely day and we went well out to sea. With maximum eight passengers it’s an experience that you feel part of all the time. There were four passengers on our trip and it was great.

Amazing tour by Tony and his team. Saw heaps of wildlife including penguins, fur seals, cormorans and dolphins. Very good information on nature and landscape. Absolutely great trip would definitely do it again!

A fantastic time, highly recommend

Highly recommend doing this trip. The crew were very knowledgeable and friendly. The scenery is stunning. Enjoyed seeing the seals and dolphins.

We had an absolutely fantastic tour with Tony and the crew who took the time to speak to us individually. They told stories of the area and the animals we were looking for. We saw little white flapper penguins, hector dolphins, shags and even a huge group of baby seals. Honestly, this is one of the best things I’ve done in NZ. The boat was small so it could get close to the wildlife and into sections where the bigger boats can’t go. I would highly recommend this to anyone travelling to Akaroa.

Honestly this was one of the most fun things we've done in NZ so far, saw so many things! A ton of dolpins, seals and penguins. I appreciated the little details about the rock formations as well. We also went into Cathedral cave which was a highlight. It was a cute personal feeling cruise. 100% recommend!

My partner and I and our 4yo daughter loved the journey. Seen lots of dolphins and other wildlife we have never been able to see before. Will love to go again

I did this tour with my sister, led by skippers Tony & Muffy & dog, Scruffy on my last day in NZ. It was absolutely amazing. The weather wasn't great, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it meant that the 'swim with dolphins' boats weren't out chasing the dolphins. We saw so many Hector's dolphins, seals, a northern giant petrel, a blue penguin! You know when you've landed on a gold day when skipper goes to get his own camera to photograph the wildlife! Thank you for the best last day in New Zealand!