Whale Watching Flight: Kaikōura's Marine Wonders

Experience breathtaking whale watching flights over Kaikoura’s coastline. Spot majestic sperm whales, playful dolphins, and stunning alpine scenery. Book your adventure today.

Duration: 30 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Kaikoura Airport - Experience aerial whale and dolphin watching. For a 30-minute flight, please set aside a full hour to enable adjustments to your start time, ensuring the best opportunity to observe marine mammals.
What's Included
  • Children & infants welcome
  • Use of a headset
Additional Information

Experience the world-famous sperm whales and marine life of Kaikōura with an unforgettable Whale Watching Flight. From the sky, enjoy the perfect vantage point to admire these magnificent creatures in their natural environment, fully appreciating their immense size and beauty.
During the journey, there may be opportunities to see dolphins, humpback…

Location
Air Kaikoura Aero Club
State Highway 1
At Kaikoura Airport, 10min drive south of Kaikoura. Turn right on arrival, Free parking. Checkin 30min before your flight. Flight times may be adjusted to align with whale dive times, this may result in earlier departures. If you are not present at the checkin time, the flight may depart without you
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(98 Ratings)
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Seanmn4125oq
Nov 21, 2025
Just Brillant Experience - Absolutely brilliant saw dolphins, sperm whale and humpback whale. Staff were excellent very knowledgeable, friendly and professional.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Resort40433591142
Nov 19, 2025
Great experience highly recommend. - Fantastic. We were lucky to see two Sperm Whales. We had took a morning flight which was rescheduled from the previous day due to bad weather conditions. The team were very helpful and accommodating. Nice waiting room with small gift store and clean toilets. The plane experience was lovely with good commentary from the pilot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
347yifath
Oct 8, 2025
Amazing! - Great experience. Alex (the pilot) and the entire crew were extremely professional (Be sure to clean the windows before the flight. I really appreciated that) Alex explain what we saw, flew patiently while we saw dolphins, And most importantly, locate a whale Thank you, I enjoyed it very much Highly recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Crustyle
Oct 1, 2025
A holiday high-point, literally!!! - Absolutely brilliant!!!! We arrived in Kaikoura and made a whale watching enquiry at the local booking office. No sailings available but a flight was suggested, at a discounted price. A booking hiccup ensued (no fault Air Kaikoura) but they were so keen to ensure we got a flight they laid on an extra one just for us. Our pilot Ben wheeled out a little 4-seater for us and in no time we were over the sea and seeing hump-backed whales, followed by numerous dusky dolphin pods. Skies were blue, the sea flat calm, the commentary well informed and the flight was smooth. An absolute high to finish our holiday on. Thank you so much guys.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carolyn_h
Aug 27, 2025
🔥AMAZING Experience 🔥 - Super friendly staff, amazing flight. Ben the pilot was really knowledgeable about the area and great info about the Whales that frequent the area...AND... *WOW* got to watch a Humpback whale jumping out of the water. Such a special flight. Recommend doing this, you won't regret it ever!!
Review provided by Viator
242charmainer
Aug 2, 2025
What an experience - We had the best experience, the pilot was great and talked to us throughout the flight. We were lucky enough to see 3 different whales and they all gave us a tail flip as they dived down. Spectacular views. We had 2 children aged 5 and 9 with us who loved the whole experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
444janettel
Jun 12, 2023
Wonderful Experience- Sperm whale sighting - We loved this experience! We had an amazing view of a Sperm Whale, who stayed on the surface for 10 minutes before diving below the surface. Lots of dolphins hanging about too and stunning views of the local landscape. Our pilot was friendly and knowledgeable, we'd definitely recommend this trip.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Susanht1026tl
May 12, 2023
Highly recommended - Friendly , helpful and wanting you to have a pleasant experience. Great pilot who does his best to find a whale. Would highly recommend . All funds go back Into the club and community .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Saaakis2023
Apr 29, 2023
Amazing experience - Flew with the friendliest pilot, thanks Lana, it was an amazing experience and the service was great.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seacucumber
Mar 21, 2023
Excellent! - We went into Kaikoura to book a whale watching boat trip, and the lady who was taking bookings told us they had two seats left on a whale watching flight with Air Kaikoura if we could go straight away. It was very spur of the moment so we headed straight off to the airfield a short distance out of town. It was a tiny four-seater plane but we felt very safe. After takeoff we were in the air for about 40-50 minutes I think but was so engrossed I didn’t take note of the time. We circled around waiting for a sperm whale to surface after a dive - the pilots know when a whale has dived and how long they are likely to stay down for - and two sperm whales obliged by popping up in a timely manner! It was fantastic to see. The pilot was very knowledgeable about the whales. It was a perfect day weather wise with clear blue skies and the scenery was beautiful. So glad we did this and I would highly recommend it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $144
up to 7 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).