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.

02/08/2026

Have you spotted what’s special about this pod of dolphins? 🐬 A couple weeks ago we had a special bunch of Bottlenose Dolphins approach the boat. Bottlenose are endangered in New Zealand waters and our permit doesn’t allow us to approach them but sometimes we get lucky and they come to us! This particular day they were putting on a show, gracefully playing and chattering away. If you listen closely you can even hear their squeaks, clicks and whistles 🔉

22/07/2026

Have you identified them? 👀 last week we had a special bunch of Bottlenose Dolphins approach the boat. Bottlenose are endangered in New Zealand waters and our permit doesn’t allow us to approach them. Sometimes we get lucky and they come to us! This particular day they were putting on a show, gracefully playing and chattering away. If you listen closely you can even hear their squeaks, clicks and whistles 🔉

22/07/2026

Have you spotted what’s special about this pod of dolphins? 🐬 last week we had a special bunch of Bottlenose Dolphins approach the boat. Bottlenose Dolphins are endangered in New Zealand waters and our permit does not allow us to approach them but sometimes we get lucky and they come to us! This particular day they were putting on a show, gracefully playing and chattering away. If you listen closely you can even hear their squeaks, clicks and whistles 🔉

We're setting our intentions for Te Iwa o Matariki, caring for each other, our crew, the whenua and the moana, and makin...
09/07/2026

We're setting our intentions for Te Iwa o Matariki, caring for each other, our crew, the whenua and the moana, and making choices that help protect our oceans for generations to come ✨

From the entire crew at Auckland Whale and Dolphin Safari, we wish you a safe and happy Māori New Year 🌟 As we come together with whānau to celebrate this special time, take a moment to reflect, reconnect, and reset over the long weekend.

Mānawatia a Matariki 💙

02/07/2026

Oh we know 👀 
Our crews’ well-trained eyes have recently spotted a Brown B***y (Sula leucogaster) amongst their close cousin, the Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) 🥸 Both Brown Bo***es and Australasian gannets are part of the family ‘Sulidae’ and are plunge diving birds. However, unlike Australasian gannets who have several colonies around the Hauraki Gulf, the Brown B***y is a vagrant visitor and typically have a more tropical distribution over the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The booby’s odd but humorous name was derived from early sailors who found them easy to approach and catch, calling them ‘boobys’ from the Spanish slang word bobo, which means foolish or naïve 🤭
Over the past 6 weeks, we have spotted this Brown B***y on 3 safari’s and we are excited to see how long it hangs around the Hauraki Gulf! Every rare or unusual wildlife sighting we have is added to the citizen science platform ‘iNaturalist’. Scientists often use iNaturalist for their own research and it is an incredible way for everyone to participate in science without any fancy degrees or equipment 🔭🎓 You can check out the location of these sightings here! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?user_id=auckland-whale-and-dolphin-safari

Oh we know 👀 Our crews’ well-trained eyes have recently spotted a Brown B***y (Sula leucogaster) amongst their close cou...
02/07/2026

Oh we know 👀 

Our crews’ well-trained eyes have recently spotted a Brown B***y (Sula leucogaster) amongst their close cousin, the Australasian gannets (Morus serrator) 🥸

Both Brown Bo***es and Australasian gannets are part of the family ‘Sulidae’ and are plunge diving birds. However, unlike Australasian gannets who have several colonies around the Hauraki Gulf, the Brown B***y is a vagrant visitor and typically have a more tropical distribution over the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The booby’s odd but humorous name was derived from early sailors who found them easy to approach and catch, calling them ‘boobys’ from the Spanish slang word bobo, which means foolish or naïve 🤭

Over the past 6 weeks, we have spotted this Brown B***y on 3 safari’s and we are excited to see how long it hangs around the Hauraki Gulf!

Every rare or unusual wildlife sighting we have is added to the citizen science platform ‘iNaturalist’. Scientists often use iNaturalist for their own research and it is an incredible way for everyone to participate in science without any fancy degrees or equipment 🔭🎓 You can check out the location of these sightings here! https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?user_id=auckland-whale-and-dolphin-safari

So… did you spot the difference?

08/06/2026

Take a dip with us for Live Ocean Winter Dip, celebrating World Ocean Day! 🏊 There are a few ocean wins to celebrate from the past year, including Jono Ridler's Swim4TheOcean efforts, the passing of the Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana Marine Protection Bill and the continued call for an end to bottom trawling 🙌💙

Thank you to our incredible crew for showing their support for the moana and braving the cold ❄️ Where are you getting wet for the moana this World Ocean Day?

Last week we had an amazing experience with a māmā and pēpi Bryde's whale! They were lunge feeding together and happily ...
05/06/2026

Last week we had an amazing experience with a māmā and pēpi Bryde's whale! They were lunge feeding together and happily following after a foraging pod of dolphins. This encounter was special because our marine scientists were able to get high-quality dorsal fin photo IDs, which helped us learn a few things about māmā. She was first sighted in both the Hauraki Gulf and Northland in 2005, and then wasn't spotted again until 2018 in the Gulf. We hadn't sighted her again until Tuesday, which was the first time she'd been sighted with a calf. This means we can now confirm she is a female and at least 21 years old. Fresh and healed cookie-cutter sharks on both her and the calf tell us that they likely spend time outside of the Hauraki Gulf, likely in deeper waters up to 3,000 metres where the sharks live (more on these hungry critters in another post!).
Ongoing data collection like ours enables us to learn more about these beautiful taonga (treasures), which is important for the conservation of this critically endangered species.

We’re sad to say ka kite to our two wonderful interns, Shay and Rico 👋Shay and Rico spent the summer with us as Marine R...
24/05/2026

We’re sad to say ka kite to our two wonderful interns, Shay and Rico 👋
Shay and Rico spent the summer with us as Marine Research Interns, assisting the crew with observational and photographic data collection on marine megafauna and providing on-board education to our passengers.
Shay gained networking experience that led her to begin a Master’s degree with the Cetacean Ecology Research Group at Massey University. Shay’s research will explore liver health in aihe/common dolphins using tissue, cellular, toxicology, and parasite data to understand how factors like age, s*x, reproduction, and overall health shape the condition of stranded animals. We are so happy that Shay’s research will contribute to the conservation of the very species that we see out on safari!
Rico dedicated extra time during and after the internship to completing a research project in which he analysed over 25 years of our mangō/shark data to compile an onboard resource for our passengers. This work gave us a deeper understanding of how sharks use the Hauraki Gulf and supports our mission to educate our passengers about the importance of sharks in our ocean ecosystems.
We are so incredibly proud of both Rico and Shay and are grateful to have been a part of their journey. We wish them both the best in their bright futures and can’t wait to see where they go and what they’ll achieve!

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

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