Black Cat Cruises

25/04/2025

Last weekend of KIDS CRUISE FREE over in .newzealand 🛥️ There’s still a few spots left to take the family on an epic adventure on both Saturday and Sunday but with this stunning weather book your spot fast 😎

📷: .aselemo

19/04/2025

Happy Easter | Hari Aranga from all of us at Black Cat Cruises! 🌊🐰🐬

Wishing you a fun and relaxing Easter from our beautiful part of the world here in Akaroa and Lyttelton.

Whether you're cruising with us today or simply enjoying some chocolate and sunshine, we hope you’re making magical memories with your whānau.

✨ Don’t forget our Kids Cruise Free offer in Akaroa and our Quail Island Easter Hunt are both running right through the school holidays until April 27. There’s still plenty of time to hop aboard and join the fun!

Details are all on our specials page 👉 https://www.blackcat.co.nz/specials/

📷: Helen - Black Cat Crew

09/04/2025

🐰 Have you seen the old shipwrecks on Quail Island before?! Our Quail Island Easter Hunt over the school holidays is the perfect time to explore this fascinating island which is not only stunning but also full of rich history! 🗺️ And if you make it this far around the island there’s a bonus prize draw of a family pass to up for grabs!!🐰

https://www.blackcat.co.nz/specials/quail-island-easter-egg-hunt/

31/03/2025

Dream job alert: Black Cat Cruises Official Dolphin Translator! 🐬

We’re officially looking for a Dolphin Translator to help us decode the daily chit-chat of Hector’s dolphins 💬

Requirements:

✅ Fluent in clicks, whistles and the occasional tail slap

✅ Ability to differentiate between friendly greetings and strictly confidential dolphin business

✅ Previous experience as an animal whisperer helpful

Our dolphins have a lot to say, and frankly, we need help keeping up. Apply today - before they start talking behind our backs!

Apply to: [email protected] by 12pm 1 April 2025.

27/03/2025

19/03/2025

Nothing to do in Christchurch? Think again! 👀 Check out this awesome feature on Akaroa including our Swimming with Dolphins experience 🐬

19/03/2025

Game on! Swimming with wild dolphins in Akaroa is next level! 🐬🎮

To celebrate the release of Aotearoa New Zealand has partnered with Warner Bros. and Mojang Studios to create a world-first destination DLC (downloadable content) for Minecraft.

But why just play digitally when you can experience the real adventure? Press play in Akaroa:

📍Dive into the wild and swim with Hector’s dolphins, the rarest in the world
📍Cruise through stunning volcanic scenery on our Akaroa Nature Cruise
📍Stroll the charming French-inspired village of Akaroa

New Zealand’s ultimate playground is waiting - why not check out the link in our bio to make it real?

100% Pure New Zealand

16/03/2025

One of our most popular events of the year is back 🐰 Our annual Easter Egg Hunt on Quail Island – this time for the whole school holidays with adults at kid’s prices! Search the island for the letters to make our secret word and exchange for scrumptious Easter eggs.
Saturday 12 April – Sunday 27 Apr 2025
Tickets: Adults: $20 | Kids 5-15yr: $20 | Under 5s: FREE.
To book: link in bio or www.blackcat.co.nz

14/03/2025

The weather is looking 🙌 this weekend! Who’s heading over the hill?

12/03/2025

It’s the perfect weather…..for a s**g 🫢☔️💧

06/03/2025

🐬 March is a big month for our marine life! Dolphin Awareness Month and are here - two incredible calendar events dedicated to celebrating and protecting the ocean and the amazing creatures that call it home.

Here in Aotearoa, we’re lucky to have the Hector’s dolphin - the rarest and smallest dolphin in the world. But with only around 15,000 left, they need our help more than ever.

At Black Cat, we’re passionate about protecting these special dolphins and the place they call home. That’s why we created the Protect Hector’s Membership, helping fund vital research and conservation efforts.

Learn more how you can help us protect the Hector's dolphin for future generations 🐬 https://www.blackcat.co.nz/protecthectors/ or link in bio.

02/03/2025

Forty years of whānau 🐬 Today we celebrated four incredible decades of Black Cat Cruises staff with our Past & Present Whānau Day!

On a perfect 25-degree Christchurch day, we cruised out from Lyttelton to stunning Quail Island for a classic Kiwi BBQ, reminiscing about the past, appreciating the present, and maybe even inspiring a few future crew members with all the kids running around.

A huge thank you to everyone who made it out – it really is the people who make this place what it is 🥰.

"He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata."

"What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people."

And what an extraordinary team we have, past and present! 🎉

01/03/2025

🐬 ‘They circle around you!' - ‘ze zwemmen in rondjes om je heen!’

🇳🇿 Those were the words of the guide on the small boat. They echoed in my mind as I became surrounded by Hector’s dolphins - one with them and their home: the ocean!

The guide had found this group of the world’s rarest and smallest oceanic dolphins using nothing but his eyes and ears. No radar, no bait - just brains!

At a great distance, four others and I were allowed to enter the water. ‘If the dolphins are curious, they can come closer themselves’ said the guide.

So they did! Soon after, the dolphins began to circle around me. An experience from 2019 that will stay with me forever. It even inspired me to to successfully complete a master’s degree in tourism at the most sustainable university in my home country (Wageningen University, The Netherlands) at the end of last year.

Sharing my story here, hoping to inspire others too!

——

🇳🇱 Dat waren de woorden van de gids op de kleine boot. Ze echoden in mijn hoofd terwijl ik omringd werd door Hector’s dolfijnen - één met hen en hun thuis: de oceaan!

De gids had met niets minder dan zijn ogen en oren deze groep van ’s werelds meest zeldzame en kleinste mariene dolfijnen gevonden. Radar en lokaas kwamen er niet aan te pas!

Op ruime afstand van de dolfijnen mochten ik en vier anderen het water in. ‘Als de dolfijnen nieuwsgierig zijn, kunnen ze zelf dichterbij komen’ aldus de gids.

En dat deden ze! Want niet veel later zwommen de dolfijnen in rondjes om mij heen. Een ervaring uit 2019 die me altijd bij zal blijven. Het inspireerde me zelfs om eind vorig jaar met succes mijn master in toerisme te behalen aan de duurzaamste universiteit van het land.

Ik deel mijn verhaal hier, in de hoop ook anderen te inspireren!

📸 Black Cat Cruises
📍 Visit Akaroa