Bird watching trips on the Kaikoura Coast, New Zealand

Bird watching tours to see pelagic seabirds

on the Kaikoura coastline with Albatross Encounter

Bird watching tours to see pelagic seabirds on the Kaikoura coastline with Albatross Encounter

Kaikoura was made famous by resident whales and dolphins, Kaikoura’s best kept secret is it’s incredible diversity of pelagic (ocean going) birds, Kaikoura is also known as one of the world’s hotspots for pelagic birdlife with up to twelve species of albatross able to be found at various times of the year. The tour is a sea based operation by boat taking you off the spectacularly stunning Kaikoura Coast.

The most amazing and unique feature of Kaikoura is the huge range of Albatross and pelagic sea birds that can be sighted with just a 15 minute boat journey from the coast, making many normally inaccessible and elusive species easy to locate and view.

Get up close and personal to the largest wingspan in the world!

The Albatross Encounter Tour is an unbelievable experience which takes you to meet and photograph the majestic Albatross as he circles the boat before they come into land to join us.

Travel time to these pelagic birds is just 5-15 minutes from the coastline and with a 14 passenger maximum the tour is an intimate experience allowing very close proximity to these incredible birds.

We are extremely privileged in Kaikoura to have a huge diversity of species that visit our coastline, from the Northern and Southern Albatross to a variety of Penguin, Shearwaters and Petrels. Kaikoura has one of the largest numbers of different types of seabirds within a small area than anywhere along the New Zealand coastline and this breathtaking tour will leave you speechless.