A Dolphin Encounter in New Zealand

One of the most magical experiences anyone can have in life is to swim with dolphins. These intelligent and playful mammals are one of the most extraordinary creatures in the ocean that anyone could have the opportunity to interact with.

New Zealand has very strict standards when swimming with dolphins and we felt very comfortable jumping in the water with Fuller’s Great Sights in the Bay of Islands.

Why is New Zealand more environmentally friendly that other countries that swim with dolphins?

1. They cannot feed the dolphins to entice them to come back day after day.
2. Only 3 vessels are allowed within 300 metres of the dolphins at one time.
3. Nobody can swim with the dolphins if there are infants in the pod
4. The number of times that a group can swim with the dolphins in limited

As our Captain Billy said, the dolphins come up to the boat for a visit because they want to, if we fed them, we would never know if they are here just for food or if they want to be here to interact.

Our boat moved to the other side of the bay away from the bigger vessels and found the most playful dolphins that they know of.

They call these guys The Midgets.  They are a couple of smaller male dolphins with another fun dolphin (that unfortunately I can’t remember the name of) along with a fourth dolphin that didn’t have a name.  He was as equally curious as the rest of them. We got lucky and had the friendly pod to ourselves before any of the other boats made there way to our side of the bay.

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