Kaikoura

The name means “to eat crayfish” in te reo Maori, and that tells you something about the order of priorities here. Kaikoura is a small town on the northeast coast of the South Island, pressed between the Pacific and the Kaikoura Ranges, which rise almost immediately from the shoreline. The combination of a deep offshore trench (the Hikurangi Trough) and the nutrient flow from the mountains creates an underwater environment that supports an unusual density of large marine life. Sperm whales, year-round. Dusky dolphins by the hundreds. Fur seals on every second piece of coastal rock.

In November 2016, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake lifted parts of the seabed by up to two metres, closing the main highway and stranding the town for months. The road has since been rebuilt, the walking tracks upgraded, and the marine ecosystem was apparently undisturbed by the whole event. The rocky coastal shelves you now see were not there before 2016. They are part of Kaikoura’s landscape now.

The Whales

This is one of the few places in the world where you can reliably see sperm whales at the surface in all seasons. The deep trench just offshore supports year-round feeding for a resident population. Whale Watch Kaikoura has been running tours since 1987 as a community-owned operation, and their success rate on sperm whale sightings is around 95%. If your tour does not encounter a whale, they return 80% of the ticket price. That is a meaningful guarantee for a wildlife tour.

Tours depart at 7:15 am, 10 am, and 12:45 pm, with an additional 3:30 pm departure from November to March. The tour runs about 2.5 hours. Book well ahead in summer. The minimum age is 3 years. Roughly 30-40% of tours are cancelled due to sea conditions, which is the reality of operating in exposed coastal waters. If Kaikoura is the main purpose of your visit, build in a backup day.

Helicopter tours over the whales are an alternative if boats are cancelled and you have the budget. They cover more ground and the view from above is different, but shorter than the boat tour.

Seals and Dolphins

The Point Kean fur seal colony sits at the tip of the Kaikoura Peninsula and is accessible by car or a short walk. Seals sprawl across the rocks in various states of indolence a few metres from where you stand. No barrier. They are habituated to humans and will look at you briefly before returning to whatever seal business was occupying them. Ohau Point, 25 minutes north on State Highway 1, has a larger colony and a waterfall where juvenile seals play in the stream during winter. It is less visited than Point Kean.

Swimming and snorkelling with dusky dolphins is one of the better wildlife experiences in New Zealand. Encounter Kaikoura runs the main dolphin swim operation. You are in the water with several hundred dolphins in a pod, which is not a sentence that has many equals. Check their current availability before planning around it.

Walking the Peninsula

The Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway covers 11.7 kilometres of coastal clifftop between Point Kean and the township, with seal colonies, seabird nesting sites, and clear-day views of the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. The full circuit takes about three hours at a reasonable pace. It is not technically demanding but the path is clifftop, so watch your footing in wet conditions.

The shorter walk from Point Kean along the headland to the seal colony requires about 45 minutes return and gives you the essential coastal view without the commitment of the full circuit.

Eating Crayfish

Nin’s Bin is a roadside caravan about 20 kilometres north of town on State Highway 1. It has been serving whole crayfish at current market prices for a very long time. Lonely Planet placed it seventh on their global Ultimate Eat List. It is a caravan on the side of a highway. You eat the crayfish in a car park with the ocean in front of you. Eating crayfish at Nin’s Bin is the correct thing to do in Kaikoura, and the price is whatever fresh crayfish costs that day. In summer, a whole crayfish runs between $60-100 NZD depending on size and market conditions.

Kaikoura Seafood BBQ near the town center does casual outdoor seafood: whitebait fritters, green-lipped mussels, grilled fish, chowder. Good for lunch when you want the flavours without the sit-down formality.

The Pier Hotel overlooks the ocean and does the full sit-down fresh seafood experience. Worth doing one evening if you are in town for more than a day. The crayfish preparation here is more refined than the caravan, but both are correct in their own context.

Zephyr does seasonal New Zealand cuisine with a changing menu built around fresh regional produce. The wine list is thoughtful. A good option if you want something that is not explicitly about seafood.

Where to Stay

Hapuku Lodge and Tree Houses sits about 12 kilometres north of town at the base of the mountains on a working deer farm. The treehouse suites are elevated into native kanuka forest. It is specific and expensive, and if you are the kind of traveller who wants the most memorable bedroom in the area, this is it. Book well ahead.

The White Morph Hotel on the Esplanade is the right choice if you want waterfront views, a comfortable bed, and straightforward convenience. Mid-range pricing, good location.

The Esplanade runs along the waterfront through the centre of town and has a concentration of motels and B&Bs in various price bands. Most of the town is walkable from anywhere on this strip.

Getting There

Kaikoura sits 180 kilometres north of Christchurch and about 130 kilometres south of Picton. State Highway 1 connects both. The drive from Christchurch takes about two hours; from Picton, about 90 minutes. The train (the Northern Explorer runs Christchurch to Picton and back) stops at Kaikoura and the coastal section of that journey, with mountains on one side and sea on the other, is one of the better train rides in New Zealand.

Two to three days is the right amount of time here. One day is enough to feel shortchanged if the whale tour is cancelled. Three days allows for the walkway, the wildlife, a full afternoon of nothing, and eating crayfish more than once, which is recommended.