Kaikōura – Where Mountains Meet the Ocean

NZ Road Trip South Island – Day 23
Kaikoura – Picton
Monday 16th March 2026

We spent the day in Kaikōura, and I absolutely loved this coastal spot.

There’s something special about it – mountains meeting the ocean, wildlife everywhere and that laid-back seaside feel.

We’d come here for one main reason – whale watching.

So we boarded the boat and headed out into the open water and honestly, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions. The sea was calm, the sky was clear and what followed was pretty incredible.

We saw three Sperm Whale, one Humpback Whale, and hundreds of dolphins swimming and playing around the boat, so funny to watch.

There’s something really powerful about seeing wildlife like this in their natural environment, no barriers, no enclosures, just them, in the wild, doing their thing.

Two Sperm Whale swimming right next to our boat

And then they were gone, surfacing 45 minutes later

It’s one of those moments you just stand and take in.

I won’t lie though… I did get pretty seasick.
But even with that, it was 100% worth it.

Such beautiful creatures

We then done a beach walk to a massive seal colony and this turned out to be spectacular. There were hundreds of seals and the baby ones were especially cute.