Explore the Bay of Islands - Carino Wildlife Cruises

4.9
37

Join Carino Wildlife Cruises for the ultimate day exploring the beautiful Bay of Islands.

Join Carino Wildlife Cruises for the ultimate day exploring the beautiful Bay of Islands.

Highlights

  • Get up-close views of dolphins and other marine life
  • Island stopover for snorkelling, walking or relaxing
  • We are the only yacht licensed by the Department of Conservation to interact with wild dolphins in the Bay of Islands!
  • A unique sailing, wildlife watching and island hopping adventure - the best activities in the Bay of Islands!

Experience the Bay of Islands with Carino Wildlife Cruises in helping to protect our wild dolphins!

A special home base for bottlenose dolphins, the best way to discover the Bay of Islands is onboard the Carino Wildlife Cruises luxury 50ft catamaran. You'll just love exploring deep blue waters, vivid green islands and diverse wildlife.

This 6-hour expedition caters for those who know the journey is more important than the destination - we take a leisurely relaxed approach to enjoy the many activities on offer during the day.


Tour Includes:

Dolphins - Observe and learn about wild dolphins. Carino Wildlife Cruises is the only sailing yacht licensed by the Department of Conservation to interact with dolphins in the Bay of Islands. Every ticket directly contributes to marine mammal research and conservation – Protect the future.

Sailing - Experience sailing among the beautiful Bay of Islands; help the crew set and trim the sails or just sit back relax and enjoy the view and wildlife from the spacious decks of this purpose-built vessel

Exploring - Your skipper will find the best suited island cove on the day where a wide range of activities are on hand, from Snorkelling (equipment provided) to scenic walking tracks, beachcombing or just relaxing in the sun on the golden sands.

Adult $206.00 (Aged 15+)
Child $141.00 (Aged 4-14 years)

What's included

  • Masks, Snorkels, Fins and Wetsuits

Duration

  • Allow approximately 6 hours for the whole experience

Location

  • Boarding at 8:45am at Paihia Wharf.

Restrictions

  • Minimum age: 4

Child Friendly

  • This experience welcomes families with children.

Notes

  • Please note: Carino Wildlife Cruises cannot absolutely guarantee to find dolphins, because they are wild animals in their own environment (not in an enclosure).

    You can bring your own snorkelling equipment for this experience.

  • Optional Extras:

    BBQ Lunch- Enjoy a classic kiwi style BBQ lunch onboard Carino NZ (vegetarian and gluten-free options available) - $14 per person, can be purchased at checkout.

    Drinks - Enjoy a drink from the fully licenced cash bar, stocked with a great range of New Zealand beers wines and cool drinks.

Available Bookings from21 Aug to 3 Sept 2026

All prices are shown inNZD ($)

Change Dates
Fri 21 Aug
Sat 22 Aug
Sun 23 Aug
Mon 24 Aug
Tue 25 Aug
Wed 26 Aug
Thu 27 Aug
Fri 28 Aug
Sat 29 Aug
Sun 30 Aug
Mon 31 Aug
Tue 1 Sept
Wed 2 Sept
Thu 3 Sept

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$141.00

  • Adult$187.00
  • Child$116.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$116.00

  • Adult$206.00
  • Child$141.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$116.00

  • Adult$206.00
  • Child$141.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$141.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$116.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$116.00

  • Adult$187.00 Less than 6 at this price!
  • Child$116.00
Wonderful cruise and snorkel in the bay Awesome Experience from Start to Finish! Northland experience The best time! Wonderful cruise and snorkel in the bay
1 / 11
appsShow all photos

Authenticated Reviews

Real highlights, tips, and the helpful advice straight from Bookme customers who’ve actually done this experience.

4.9

37 reviews

Showing all 37 authenticated Bookme reviews

Eva Mueller from New Zealand wrote on 14 April 2025

Very enjoyable encounter with Bottlenose Dolphines

I can highly recommend the 6 hrs catamaran excursion through parts of bay of island. Vanessa the skipper and her lovely staff Megan where super friendly and so knowledgeable about Bay of Islands history and the wildlife, here. We had numerous encounters with a small pod of very curious bottlenose dolphins which hung out with us and even followed us a while. It was definitely great to watch and also to know that we humans are not allowed to swim with the dolphins here in the bay. It helps to preserve the dolphines freedom and encourages their curiosity knowing we dont interfere too much in their habitat. Great day out on the catamaran. Thank you very much.

verifiedVerified purchase ios_shareShare link to review

From Explore the Bay of Islands - Carino Wildlife Cruises

Thank you for your review. Responsible dolphin watching is at the core of what we do.Our crew are thoroughly trained on all aspects of interacting with dolphins and whales. We love sharing the Bay of Islands and showing our guests the fantastic wildlife. During cruise we record all the wildlife we encounter and their behavior, to help to protect the future of our marine wildlife. Thank you for joining us in our conservation efforts.

Nicky Bowden from New Zealand wrote on 22 October 2024

Wonderful day out

We had a lovely day with Vanessa and her crew. Very professional and knowledgeable. We saw penguins, got to swim and walk on the island but unfortunately no dolphins. We will have to come back again.

verifiedVerified purchase ios_shareShare link to review

clynnes from New Zealand wrote on 08 February 2023

Wonderful cruise and snorkel in the bay

We went out on holiday in Paihia and knew we wanted to cruise the bay. The fact that Carino is allowed to get up close and personal with the dolphins made for an easy choice! We were fortunate to have the dolphins play all around the boat. We even saw penguins out at sea! Michi & Veronica were not only friendly and fun, but extremely knowledgeable and catamaran was so smooth on the water (no seasickness). They also provided binoculars, snorkeling gear and reading material to help identify the animals we saw. What a fantastic experience!

verifiedVerified purchase ios_shareShare link to review

Célie Husson from France wrote on 25 October 2022

Wonderful

Wonderful experience! Friendly crew, beautiful boat, small group (10 people, perfect if you don’t want lot of tourists). The company is respectful toward to marine life. We saw dolphins at less than 1 meters of the boat, beautiful day!!!

verifiedVerified purchase ios_shareShare link to review

kerih4 from New Zealand wrote on 09 January 2022

Great experience

Vanessa and Wayne were truly wonderful. Very knowledgeable about the wildlife and the Bay. Thank you for a wonderful experience for my entire family.

verifiedVerified purchase ios_shareShare link to review

close

Booking

10:00 a.m.Thursday 13 July

12

Adult Aged 15+

Child Aged 4-14 years

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

Qualmark

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.

close

Review Photos

close

Property Photos

close

Where to?

Popular New Zealand Destinations

  • Fiji Islands - Viti Levu - Mamanucas
  • Cairns - Port Douglas
  • Queenstown - Southern Lakes - Fiordland
  • Whitsundays - Airlie Beach - Townsville
  • Rotorua - Taupo - Waitomo
  • Milford Sound
  • Denarau Island
  • Auckland - Waiheke Island - Warkworth
  • Melbourne
  • Sydney
  • West Coast - Glacier Country
  • K`gari (Fraser Island) - Hervey Bay - Town of 1770
  • Christchurch - Canterbury - Kaikoura
  • Gold Coast
  • Abel Tasman - Nelson - Picton
  • Northland - Bay of Islands
  • Newcastle - Port Stephens - Hunter Valley
  • Noosa - Mooloolaba - Sunshine Coast
  • Dunedin - Coastal Otago - Oamaru
  • Franz Josef Glacier / Waiau
  • Byron Bay
  • Northern Territory - Darwin, Red Centre, Kakadu
  • BOP - Tauranga - Maunganui - Whakatane
  • Wellington - Wairarapa
  • Perth & Western Australia
  • Coromandel Peninsula - Great Barrier Island
  • Greater Adelaide and Barossa Valley
  • Hamilton & Raglan - Waikato
  • Brisbane
  • Broome
  • Gisborne - East Cape to Mahia
  • Tasmania - Hobart and Surrounds
  • Darwin
  • Hawkes Bay - Napier & Hastings
  • Taranaki - New Plymouth
  • Canberra
  • Manawatu - Whanganui to Masterton & Martinborough
  • Southland & Te Anau
close

Search

close

Bookme Lists

close

Ask a Question

close

Terms and conditions

Bookme New Zealand Terms and conditions

These are the terms and conditions on which you are offered access to BookMe Limited and its search and booking services for activities, attractions, products and services. If you do not accept these terms and conditions, you must refrain from using Bookme Limited and its online services.

These terms and conditions may be amended in whole or in part by BookMe Limited from time to time. Amendments will be effective immediately upon posting of the amended terms and conditions on this web site. You are responsible for ensuring you are familiar with the latest terms and conditions. Your continued use of the website and its services represents your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions as amended. These terms and conditions were last updated February 2023.

Your membership and bookings

Registering as a member of Bookme Limited is free. By registering as a member you certify that you are at least 18 years old, and can form a legally binding contract that is enforceable against you.

Accurate Information. You represent and warrant to Bookme Limited that you have provided complete, accurate and current personal information when registering as a Member. It is your responsibility to maintain and update your personal information held by Bookme Limited to ensure it is kept current. You must not register as a Member under multiple identities or personas (whether false or not). You are responsible for ensuring that information provided on bookings is accurate. This includes ensuring information populated by your browser's auto-complete function is correct and accurate. If you are aware of an issue on a booking that has already been processed, you are responsible for notifying Bookme as soon as possible.

Termination of membership. Bookme Limited reserves the right to decline to register, to suspend or to terminate your membership at any time in our absolute discretion without entering into further discussions with you. Members who have registered under multiple aliases will have all of their aliases disabled. You may terminate your membership at any time by contacting us and requesting that your membership be terminated.

Security of your login information. You are responsible for keeping your login information, including your email address and password, secret and secure.

Emails and newsletters. Bookme Limited may send you emails relating to your membership, transactions and other activities on the Website, and for promoting and marketing other Bookme Limited products and services to you. Bookme Limited may also send regular electronic newsletters to Members. Newsletters will contain clear and obvious instructions for how you can unsubscribe from the mailing list.

Actions. You are responsible for any actions (including rating and commenting on operators products and services) undertaken utilizing your Member login details and password.

The Services

Bookme Limited provides the website for you to find information about, and book directly with restaurant, experience, activity, & attraction operators (Operators), as well as publish your comments and ratings. You agree to use the Website and the Services for this purpose only.

When you make a booking and it is confirmed to you, you form a binding contract directly with the Operator. You must only make bookings that you intend to use and pay for. Without limitation, any speculative, false or fraudulent booking or any reservation in anticipation of demand is prohibited.

Bookme Limited is not a party to any agreement or transaction between you and an Operator, including any booking for activities or attractions, or other products or services made using the Website. Accordingly, you agree not to involve, or attempt to involve, Bookme Limited in any dispute or in the resolution of disputes that may arise between you and an Operator as a result of the Services provided. The inclusion on the Website of any third party material or a link to a third party website does not mean Bookme Limited endorses or approves that third party or the third party material.

Specific warnings

Bookme Limited makes every effort to ensure all information displayed on the website site is accurate; however, as Operators maintain and update their own information on the Website through systems operated by Bookme Limited , we are unable to guarantee the accuracy of all information nor are we able to guarantee that the site is free of errors or faults. As such Bookme Limited does not accept liability for any errors or omissions. We reserve the right to change information displayed on the website (including these terms and conditions) at any time without notice to you.

Bookme Limited is not responsible or liable for any unavailability of activities attractions, products or services that an Operator indicates on the Website is or are available.

Bookme Limited and/or the operator accept no responsibility for any loss or additional expenses arising from changes, delays or cancellations of the services and activities by the operator.

Operators reserve the absolute right to cancel any activity, attraction, product or service as a result of health & safety concerns, weather conditions, insufficient numbers of people on the trips or any other unforeseen event or circumstance.

Bookme Limited makes no warranty or representation about, and accepts no liability or responsibility for, the quality or suitability of any activity, attraction, product or service displayed on the Website. Further Bookme Limited advises that all activities carry a degree of risk and that by participating in the activity provided by the Operator you are expressly assuming those risks personally and are releasing the Operator and Bookme Limited from any liability, claims, losses, damages or expenses.

Exclusion and Limitation of liability:

Without affecting any of your statutory rights that cannot be lawfully excluded, Bookme Limited is not liable under any circumstances (including, but not limited to, negligence) for any losses, damages, liability, claims or expenses (whatsoever and irrespective of whether direct, indirect, consequential) arising from the use of the Website or the Services or from the use of, or inability to use, any activity, attraction, product or service booked or purchased using the Website.

None of these terms limit your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993.

Payment, Fees and Charges

Bookme Limited reserves the right to change at any time the fees charged for any of our Services or the manner in which they are charged, imposed or collected. If we launch a new service, the charges for that service will be effective at the launch of that service unless otherwise stated.

Payments made in $AUD will be processed by Bookme Australia Pty.

Payments made in all other currencies will be processed by Bookme Limited

All fees are inclusive of New Zealand GST and in New Zealand dollars, unless otherwise stated.

Cancellations, Changes and Refunds

Bookme Limited will be the first point of contact for dispute management, refunds, cancellations, returns and customer support as they relate to your use of the Bookme Website. Users can reach out to Bookme Limited to mediate or resolve any online payment dispute or disagreement between Users and operators.

Cancellations by the Operator

  • You will not be charged any cancellation fee if the cancellation has been made by the operator or Bookme Limited
  • If a booking is cancelled by the Operator (i.e. due to bad weather) and/ or a refund is authorized by the operator you must contact us via email: [email protected] explaining the reason for the refund and the name of the person with whom you spoke, and if possible your booking number. You will then be emailed a link to confirm and claim your refund.
  • Operators reserve the absolute right to cancel any activity, attraction, product or service as a result of health & safety concerns, weather conditions, insufficient numbers of people on the trips or any other unforeseen event or circumstance.
  • Bookme reserves the absolute right to cancel and refund any confirmed booking resulting from an error, or incorrect information presented on the website such as, but not limited to, pricing errors or availability errors.
  • All refunds will occur in the currency the product was sold in. If your credit card uses a different currency, the amount refunded may be different from the original amount paid due to exchange rate fluctuations. Bookme is not liable for these fluctuations, or any fees your bank charges for purchases in a foreign currency.

Cancellations by you the Customer

The availability and costs of cancellations, changes and refunds depend on Operators' own terms and conditions and policies. When you make a booking you agree to be bound by the relevant Operator's terms and policies.

  • Products that have the express condition non transferable & non refundable cannot be changed or refunded.
  • If you want to cancel your booking you will need to contact the operator directly (the phone number will be on your booking confirmation email) and check with them if you are able to cancel. If authorization is given by the operator for a refund you must then contact us by email on [email protected]. Please explain the reason for the refund and the person you spoke to, and if possible your booking number. We will only give a refund if it has been authorized by the operator first. You will then be emailed a link to confirm and claim your refund.
  • Refunds are at the discretion of the operator and Bookme Limited. In general (unless otherwise stated on your booking confirmation) operators require a minimum of 48 hours notice for any refunds to be considered.
  • In general Cancellations made by you, the customer, within 24 hours of departure will receive no refund.
  • In the event where an operator approves a refund Bookme Limited will refund your credit card the full value of the amount approved by the operator less Bookme Limited's standard cancellation fee.
  • Bookme Limited's Standard Cancelation Fee is 10% of the total booking value. A minimum fee of $5 applies to cancellations on bookings with a total value less that $50
  • If your product isn't specified as non transferable you may be able to rescheduled where specific consent is granted by the Operator. To see if your booking can be rescheduled please contact the Operator directly using the phone number provided on your booking confirmation.

Ratings & Comments

Ratings,Comments & images submitted by you to the Website about Operators must be based only on your own personal experience with that Operator and be true in all respects.

Comments & images you submit to the Website must not be offensive, defamatory, unlawful, misleading or deceptive.

The Comment facility on the Website may not be used to promote any commercial or business activity. If you own or are employed by an Operator, you must not post comments about that Operator.

Where you upload images along with your comments, you specifically give us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to all images uploaded.

Additionally, you attest that you own the images uploaded by you, or otherwise have the right to grant the rights and licenses set forward above.

Bookme Limited is not responsible for any of the opinions expressed in the Rating & Comment facilities. By posting a comment you agree to take full legal responsibility and liability for your comments and to indemnify Bookme Limitedfrom all liability, loss, damages, costs or expenses suffered by Bookme Limited in connection with your comments.

Bookme Limited reserves the right to remove or edit any comments that it considers inappropriate or in breach of these terms and conditions.

Comments submitted to the Website are provided for the sole purpose of facilitating the operation of the Website and the Services. You must not market or export any comments on the Website to any other venue or website.

General

Governing Law: These terms and conditions are governed by the laws of New Zealand. You submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of New Zealand.

System Integrity: We will make the best possible efforts to ensure the availability of the web site and services. However, we take no responsibility for any system unavailability, or for any loss that is incurred as a result of the website or services being unavailable for any reason. Further, Bookme Limited assumes no responsibility for any corruption of any data or information held by us and does not warrant that the Website or the Services will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that the Website will be free from viruses or other harmful content.

Intellectual Property Rights: Bookme Limitedowns all proprietary and intellectual property rights in the website and the software and other material underlying and forming part of the services and the website.

You agree:

  1. not to use any software, process or device to copy, collect or harvest data or other content from the Website.
  2. not to decompile, reverse-engineer, disassemble or otherwise deal with any software underlying or forming part of the Services or the Website.
  3. not to do anything or take any action that imposes an unreasonable burden on Bookme Limited's computer systems.

Privacy: Bookme Limited may collect personal information about you through your use of the website and services, including your registration details and information on how you use the website and the content you access. You agree that we may use this information to assist us to provide the services to you, for internal research purposes, to verify your identity, to contact you for feedback and reviews, for promoting and marketing other Bookme Limited products and services to you, and for any other use that you authorise.

You agree that Bookme Limited may share your personal information with trusted third party service providers for the purposes of providing the services to you, to verify your identity, for internal research purposes, to contact you to provide feedback and reviews, for promoting and marketing other Bookme Limited products and services to you, and for any other use that you authorise.

Bookme Limited will provide Operators with the information required to facilitate any booking that you make through the Website, including but not limited to the name, email address, and phone numbers you use to make a booking.

We will not sell or allow third parties to access your personal information without your consent, however you agree that we may disclose your personal information, including your name and contact details, to the relevant authorities, parties and/or the applicable intellectual property right holders (or their representatives) if we consider that you are acting inappropriately or are in breach of the law, third party rights, or these terms.

We reserve the right to review, amend, update and change this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect our obligations under the Privacy Act 1993 or current legislation and regulations.

Third Party Web Sites: You agree that We are not responsible for, nor do We endorse, any third party web sites or Content which You access in the course of using the web site. This includes any reliance upon or offence taken/caused by content, advertising, products or services accessed.

Miscellaneous: If any provision of the Terms & Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of law, such invalidity or unenforceability will not affect the remainder of the Terms & Conditions which will continue in full force and effect. Bookme Limited will not be deemed to have waived any right under these terms and conditions unless the waiver is in writing and signed by Bookme Limited

Headings: The headings used in these terms and conditions are included for convenience only and do not affect or limit these terms and conditions.