Swimming with dolphins in Marlborough Sound

All travellers have a list of 'things to do'; places to visit, sights to see and experiences to be had. Its no secret that New Zealand is full of 'top' things to do and because of this there are plenty of providers and services. This can be seen by 30% of New Zealand's revenue coming from tourism, making a wealth of options available for the travelling tourist.

On top of back country adventures, swimming with dolphins was high on Lucy's list of things to do in NZ. As our migration north takes us to our last stop on South Island, unfortunately the consistent good weather looks like it may have finally broken.

The town of Picton is the SI's gateway to the Cook Strait and the North Island. Nestled in between lush green native forests, Picton has a wide variety of things to see, do and explore, with it's crown jewel being the 78k long Queens Charlotte track, which can be hiked, biked and kayaked. Unfortunately for us, the North Westerly winds have kicked back in and the foreseeable forecast was wet and windy. Not the friendliness paddling conditions. Luckily, dolphin encounters offers a wild swimming experience in the very scenic Marlborough Sounds.

The Sound is a giant sea loch that reaches out towards the Cook strait. It's filled with islands, sail boats, holiday homes and more wildlife than you can poke a stick at. A quick brief from the guide and skipper, informed us of all the different types of dolphins that make their home in the Sound. Truth be told, I only thought that were two types of dolphins before our travels. There were dolphins you swim with and the pink ones in the Amazon you see on the National Geographic channel. But now I know. At least five different types of dolphins can be seen in the Sounds; Hector, Common, Bottlenose, Dusky and Orcas/Killer whale's.

The wildlife must have got the memo from the swimming company because as soon as we left the harbour blue penguins, a seal mimicking a shark, king shag's and gannets seemed to fill the Sound. Cruising through Hector Bay, we were lucky enough to be treated to the sight of a playing pod of Hector dolphin's. As the worlds smallest dolphin's. These little guys look like they needed a hug or two, but fortunately for them, these guys are protected in the Marlborough sounds. This meant no swimming and no cuddling from us. Which is probably a good thing as Lucy probably would have exploded from excitement.

Tiny Hector dolphin

As we cruised further towards the mouth of the sound, I could start to sense a building form of anxiety from the group. It wasn't from the fact that any moment we could spot another pod of dolphins, or the fact that the sea was going to be cold, but the fact that we might not see and swim with any other dolphins. The guide had already discussed that this was a wild swimming experience we were buying into, and that dolphins don't tend to work on commission. So there was a very real possibility that we wouldn't swim if conditions, regulations and fate intervened. The atmosphere had changed on the boat, from everyone gazing hard on the horizon like a gang of wetsuited meerkats, to cold desperate tourists, huddled inside the boat.

Like flicking a switch, from anxious to elated. The guide spotted a pod of dolphins near another boat. As we sailed closer, the size of the dolphins suddenly became clear. They were massive. A pod of bottlenose dolphins seemed to be spread all around us. Under the boat, next to the boat and all over the place, but one thing kept coming back into our minds and mouths 'their so much bigger than I thought they were going to be'.

Due to the wild nature of the swim, it wasn't simply a case of jumping in and playing with these massive, playful beast's. Our guide and skipper had to plan the next move around some dolphin telekinesis, it was all a mind reading game, figuring out where and what the dolphins were up to. Once the guide knew what was going on and the pod was a bit more concentrated and travelling in one direction, it was our time to brave the water.

The tactic was simple. Leap frog the pod, jump in and make lots of interesting and hopefully intriguing noises so the pod would come check us out. Having surfed in the North Sea, I took the water temperature brief of 12°C as tropical. Half expecting that the 7mm wetsuit would be more of a restriction then a necessary... Boy was I glad I was wearing a 7mm. Even the excitement from jumping in with a seemly giant pod of giant bottlenose, wasn't enough to stop the 'OH MY GOD' moment when the frigid water flushed into my wetsuit.

We had four 'drops' in which to swim with the dolphins in the water. The first pasted in a blur of cold confusion, not a dolphin in sight. The second was better, heads down, breathing better and I even spotted a couple underneath us. The third was the best, with a plan sorted, we linked arms, with Lucy's and Amy's eye's down with me looking up at the guide pointing in the direction of the pod and relaying that via pointing under the water. Three dolphins past underneath us just metres away, obviously I love rock n roll hasn't reached the dolphin world yet, and they had to check out the tune. The last swim was a nice chance to admire the clearer shallower water, with its deep greeny blue water, boasting the nutrients that bring in the wildlife. The pod had maybe heard one too many classic rock songs and decided to skip the show, but gave us one last swim past as we bobbed up and down during the last swim.

Although it wasn't the jumping and playing experience I considered we would get. The experience was reinforced by the guide, explaining that there is no captive dolphin in NZ. That sustainable tours promote the 'wild' experiences, which will mean that there will never be a captive programme. This coupled with the fact that captive dolphins tend to live for five years compared to the thirty five plus in the wild, made for an easy argument.

As we tick our way through the list of things to do in NZ we seem to find a never ending supply of things to do to top up the list. I've already said that NZ has a lifetime worth of exploring to be had, but our time is limited and unfortunately we have been forced to start tactically picking what we can fit in against what we will have to leave out. This was our last experience of South Island, which capped off the skiing, tramping, work and feralness, with a big fat tourist feel. An all round experience to a fantastic island. One we'll have to came back to one day.