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Monday 9am - 6pm Tuesday 9am - 6pm Wednesday 9am - 6pm Thursday 9am - 6pm Friday 9am - 6pm Saturday 9am - 6pm Sunday 9am - 6pm

Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari

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Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari

Auckland Whale & Dolphin Safari 4.5-hour marine mammal eco-safari in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, departing from Downtown Auckland. Come and explore Auckland's Hauraki Gulf Marine Park!
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New Zealand's only eco-tourism and research-based whale-watching trip.

19/04/2025

Out on Tīkapa Moana we don't have Easter bunnies, but we do have Easter dollies 🐰🐬 We hope everyone has a very 'hoppy' Easter long weekend, despite the less than ideal holiday weekend weather ⛈️😅

01/04/2025

Not sure how many of you fell for our post this morning hook, line and sinker - but it's past 12pm so its time to say April Fools!

Sadly, our Oceanic Manta Ray and Blue Shark hybrid "Mark" isn't real, but this new Bryde's Whale we spotted yesterday is very real 🐋 We managed to get a shot of its unique dorsal fin, but it's not one that's in our ID catalogue, so this seems to be our first encounter with it 🩵

31/03/2025

Breaking News from Tīkapa Moana 🔬🌊 Our crew, while exploring the waters of the Hauraki Gulf, have made an astonishing discovery- a brand-new species! Meet Mobula prionace, a never-before-seen hybrid between an Oceanic Manta Ray and a Blue Shark 🩵🦈

With the grace of a manta ray and the power of a shark, this incredible creature is rewriting what we know about marine evolution. As New Zealand’s newest ocean icon, let us know what you’d name this deep-sea wonder, we're currently leaning towards "Mark"!

18/03/2025

As part of our safaris, we take plenty of photos for research and identification, and we capture some amazing shots on the regular, but this may be one of the BEST photos we’ve ever seen! 📸 🐋 Featuring Bryde's whale #4 showing off some incredible feeding activity- you can even see fish spraying everywhere and a shearwater almost getting eaten 👀 🐟

Image credit goes to our crew member IG/antonia.s_f for the epic pic! 📷

14/03/2025

Time’s almost up to make a splash in the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust Te Ika o Te Tau 2025 competition! 🐟 Voting closes tomorrow Sunday 16th, so don’t let your favourite finned friends swim away without your support!

We’ve cast our vote already, and we're backing some our favourite ocean legends:
🩵 Spinetail Devil Ray – Because we're big ray fans!
💙 Anchovies – Small but mighty (and essential for our marine ecosystem!).
🩵 Kahawai – A hero fish, and another necessary ika for our marine ecosystem.

Vote now and help these incredible fish reel in the win! 🏆 👉 Cast your vote here: https://bit.ly/3FGKZAA

12/03/2025

We had so much fun on our special Saturday Manta Watch New Zealand safaris with founder and researcher Lydia Green 🩵 Thanks to the passengers onboard, we are donating over $500 from onboard sales to project research, with an additional $675 raised from Manta merch sales! 🛍️ Lydia shared some awesome information on Manta Rays/Te Whai Rahi and Spinetail Devil Ray species in NZ and the incredible mahi/work MWNZ is doing, having achieved ISRA (Important Shark and Ray Areas) Status for 3 areas of significance! 🤩

Anyone can submit Manta sightings to the research project via their app and get on board with understanding and conserving this special species. The Manta Watch app is available on both the App Store: https://apple.co/3RbAoQB and Google Play store: https://bit.ly/3DMDEyP

It's a privilege to have such gentle giants grace our waters of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana, and whilst we didn't spot any at the weekend, surveying still provides useful data! Plus, we now have an awesome Manta ID catalogue resource on board to share with our passengers! 📝

26/02/2025

Join us for a fin-tastic special safari on Saturday, March 8th! 🌊 Lydia Green from Manta Watch New Zealand will be joining us on board for both our morning and afternoon safaris as a guest speaker, plus some other special extras including a kids colouring competition and some exclusive Manta Watch merch available for purchase. To learn more and to book visit our website: https://bit.ly/4biGZlG

17/02/2025

Celebrate Seaweek & Win! 🌊 From now until the end of Seaweek (Mar 9th), we want to see how you're celebrating your connection with the sea! Whether you're taking a dip, creating beach art, attending a Seaweek event, or helping clean up the coast, share your moana moments with us! 🩵

How to enter:
📸 Snap a pic or a video of your Seaweek activity
📲 Tag us on Facebook or Instagram
And you'll go into the draw to WIN an Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari Family Pass valued at $599!* 🎉

Let’s celebrate our connection with our precious moana! 💙 *terms and conditions apply, competition terms can be found on our website

14/02/2025

Roses are red, the ocean is blue, we're so lucky to have a love like you 💙 Happy Valentine's Day 😘

11/02/2025

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! 🧪🦠 Today is about acknowledging the incredible contributions of women and girls in the scientific community, but for us, it is a chance to celebrate the incredible wahine onboard the Dolphin Explorer! 🐋🐬

We have within our team an amazing group of women in science: eight graduates with Bachelors in Marine or Environmental Sciences, two of whom are currently working towards a Master of Science (specialising in Marine Science), one Masters Graduate in Marine Science, and a Skipper with 19 years experience collecting data and contributing to research on our vessel! 🛥️

Join us in celebrating female scientists and inspiring young girls to pursue their passions in all the sciences! 💪🔬

06/02/2025

Nothing quite like seeing a māmā dolphin trust the boat enough to bring her baby around 🥹 we're so lucky to see these taonga, and we always take extra care around nursery pods to make sure our dolfriends are happy and comfortable when their young are around! 🐬

03/02/2025

Seabird appreciation post 🤩 if you thought whales and dolphins were all the gulf had to offer, you were wrong! Aotearoa is nicknamed the seabird capital of the world with more than 20% of the world’s seabirds sighted here! 🐧 From the world's smallest penguin (kororā) to a variety of shearwaters and australasian gannets (tākapu), if you don't already love seabirds we think we can convert you ✨

14/01/2025

Nothing beats sharing the magic of Tīkapa Moana with those eager to learn, connect, and engage 🙌 Last week, the team was thrilled to involve an awesome passenger in matching dorsal fin ID photos to our catalogue, helping to identify the Bryde's whale we encountered earlier on that safari. He went on to name the whale 'Sorcha', which means brightness or radiance 😍✨ Massive shoutout to Joseph for being such a pleasure onboard, we absolutely loved all your questions! 💙

09/01/2025

Surf's up! 🏄 Yesterday afternoon we were hanging out with some awesome dolfriends who were happy catching waves in formation 🌊🐬 Overall, a fantastic safari with our awesome passengers 🤙

31/12/2024

Let's recap how special 2024 was! We loved sharing the Hauraki Gulf - Tikapa Moana with over 18,000 customers, including 412 Common Dolphin encounters and so much more! Looking forward to 2025! 🥳

24/12/2024

Meri Kirihimete from all of us at Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari! 🎄😎

As we celebrate the festive season, we want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to our amazing crew who work tirelessly to bring you unforgettable experiences out on the water 🌊 Ngā mihi nui for your dedication and passion! ✨

We hope that your festive season is filled with love, laughter, and perhaps a glimpse of our magnificent marine friends! 🐬

Wishing you all a safe and happy Christmas and New Year! 🎁🎉

21/12/2024

We had an amazing team-building day recently, which of course had to include water activities 🌊 A big thanks to our hosts Sir Peter Blake Marine Education and Recreation Centre at Long Bay, where we started with a sunrise rock-pooling session 🐚🦀 which astounded the team with the amount of incredible critters to be found 🦠👀 To think all this life is just under the water along our shorelines is mind-blowing! 😍🤯 There's always something new to see and learn!

19/12/2024

Our 11th of December safari had awesome vibes and beautiful conditions 😎 Encounters included friendly common dolphins 🐬 an epic chin-slapping Bryde's whale 🐋 and a baby hammerhead shark (doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo) 🦈

Address

Viaduct Harbour
Auckland
1010

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 6pm
Tuesday	9am - 6pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	9am - 6pm
Friday	9am - 6pm
Saturday	9am - 6pm
Sunday	9am - 6pm

Telephone

0508 365 744

Website

https://www.whalewatchingauckland.com/

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