juliejj

Which area, and /or tour company, in the Bay of Plenty is the best spot to go on a boat to swim with wild dolphins? How far a drive is it from Rotorua(where we are staying)? Also do we need to prebook the Mitai hangi and show and for the Zorbing for around Christmas time?
in Pahia, can anyone recommend a boat tour there to swim with dophins, preferrably with a smaller group. Has anyone stayed at the Haruru Resort in Pahia? How are there tours? Finally any recommendations on a Cape Reinga tour, agsain with a smaller group?

heathy

Hi
Ive heard good reports about this company.

http://www.swimwithdolphins.co.nz/

It will take you just over an hour ( normally ) to travel to Tauranga from Rotorua. Allow extra time during Christmas school hols.
Mt Maunganui and Tauranga are generally good spots for viewing dolphins and whales - they can sometimes be seen from the beaches esp over summer.

chimani

"Swim with wild dolphins".

Just how "wild" do you think they will be after the boatloads of tourists have finished with them?

cheryllj

I took a Cape Reinga tour with Sand Safaris, and really enjoyed it. It doesn't really cater to "small groups" per se, although our total group was only about 6-8 people, including 3 in my party.

Although we took the tour mainly to visit 90-mile beach (which was fabulous and well worth the effort to get up there), we actually really enjoyed the Gumdiggers Park also.

www.sandsafaris.co.nz/tour-details.htm

ElendilPickle

We used http://www.whalesanddolphinwatch.co.nz/ in Whakatane when we went in April 2004. We didn't find any dolphins (they really are wild, chimani, and don't show up on command), but we saw a lot of seabirds and some baby seals on Whale Island. As you can see from the pictures on their website, their boat is pretty small. There were 10-12 of us who went out with them.

Whakatane is an hour from Rotorua.

I would prebook activities as much as possible around Christmas.

Lee Ann