Whale Watch
Whale Watch Reservations
Book Early
The Whale Watch Reservations office can be found in the Kaikoura Railway Station building, Kaikoura.
All our Whale Watch tours check in and leave from here. Please book early as our Whale Watch tours are extremely popular.
Our Cafe is right next door for hot beverages, cold drinks and delicious meals. Film, postcards, books and clothing can be bought from Our Gift Shop adjacent to Whale Watch Reservations.
Our Cafe
Flukes by the beach
Do some dolphin spotting or just take in the spectacular mountain scenery while enjoying an early breakfast or casual lunch on the beach at Flukes Cafe. Open 7 days. Find us inside the Kaikoura Railway Station building adjacent to Whale Watch Reservations and the Gift Shop.
Our Gift Shop
Whale Watch Gifts
Take some of the magic home with you. Whale Watch offer a unique selection of clothing, books, posters, postcards, jewellery and souvineers at our gift shop adjacent to Whale Watch Reservations.
Book - Kaikoura New Zealand
The people, the places and the wildlife. A beautifully photographed 52-page pictorial essay capturing the rare magic of Kaikoura. A genuine and affectionate reflection of a truly special place.
NZ$16.95 + postage
Order by email
Order by phone t++ 64 3 319 7738
Order by fax f++ 64 3 319 5160
Poster - NZ Whale Poster
A magnificent laminated wall poster depicting every whale and dolphin species found in New Zealand seas.
NZ$9.00 + postage
Order by phone t++ 64 3 319 7738
Order by fax f++ 64 3 319 5160
T-Shirt - Whale Watch Clothing
A colourful and wearable souvenir of the Whale Watch experience. 4 different types.
Who Are Whale Watch?
Indigenous Kiwis
Whale Watch is a multiple award winning nature tourism company owned and operated by the indigenous Kati Kuri people of Kaikoura, a Maori sub-tribe of the South Island's larger Ngai Tahu Tribe.
Whale Watch was formed in 1987 at a time when Maori were casualties of Kaikoura's declining economy. At this time of difficulty, Kati Kuri leaders like Bill Solomon (picture 2) believed the local Sperm Whales held the answer to the unemployment problems of the Maori community. They knew their ancestor Paikea had journeyed to a new life in New Zealand on the back of the whale Tohora. It seemed appropriate for Paikea's descendants to again ride on the back of the whale to a new life.
And so it proved to be.
The Kati Kuri founders of Whale Watch mortgaged their houses to secure a loan to start the business. In the early days passengers travelled aboard a small inflatable vessel (picture 5). In time, the inflatable was replaced by a larger boat with an upper viewing deck - the Uruao (picture 4) - until today the Whale Watch fleet numbers four modern catamarans each specially designed for whale watching (picture 3). The expansion of the Whale Watch fleet required the building of an entire marina in South Bay. It is from here that all whale watching tours now depart (picture 6).
Due to the phenomenal success of Whale Watch, Kaikoura is now one of New Zealand's leading tourism experiences offering a diverse range of exciting marine wildlife encounters. The company has stimulated investment in new accommodation, restaurants and an impressive array of cafes and galleries filled with the work of local artists.
Paikea and Tohora still form the symbolic centre of Whale Watch. They represent the spiritual bond between the human world and the natural world and speak of the possibilities that reveal themselves when the world of nature is revered rather than exploited.
Who Is Paikea
The Whale Rider
According to legend, Paikea came to New Zealand from the Pacific Islands on the back of a whale many centuries ago. His descendants include the Kati Kuri people of Kaikoura.
Paikea was the youngest and favourite son of the chief Uenuku from the island of Mangaia in the present day Cook Islands. This favouritism made Paikea's elder brothers extremely jealous. They conspired to kill Paikea while fishing offshore and tell Uenuku he drowned. But the night before the trip Paikea feigned sleep and overheard his brothers plotting. When far out to sea Paikea foiled their plan by deliberately sinking the canoe and drowning his brothers.
Now adrift in a great ocean, Paikea clung to a canoe plank and awaited his own death. It was then that Tohora the whale appeared and lifted Paikea onto his great back. Tohora took Paikea south to New Zealand and the settlement of Whangara just north of present day Gisborne. Here, Paikea began a new and prosperous life.
Many years later one of Paikea's sons, Tahupotiki, travelled further south and became the founder of the great South Island tribe of Ngai Tahu. It is from Tahupotiki and Paikea that the Ngai Tahu and Kati Kuri of Kaikoura claim descent.
