Summary of possible tours:
- Dunedin. Monarch Tour. Albatross, cormorants, yellow eyed penguins
- Zealandia. Night tour
- Akaroa. Black Cat Cruises. Hector's Dolphins
- Kaikoura. Albatross Encounter. Albatross
- Kaikoura. Kia Ora! Whales
- Kaikoura. Dolphin Encounter NZ. Dolphins
- Auckland.
https://whalewatchingauckland.com. Whales
- Picton. E-Ko Tours. King shags
- Okarito. Okarito Kiwi Tours. Okarito Brown Kiwi
My initial idea didn't include Picton or Okarito, although I'm open to anything. Anyway, I think I won't have time for everything, and I'll have to choose. Do any of these tours show the same things as another, and can I skip them? I mean, I only want to take tours that allow me to see different species, not the same animals in different places.
Once again, thank you so much for your great advice.
They are all for different species.
So:
- Dunedin. Monarch Tour. - you can see the same albatrosses on the Kaikoura albatross boat, but you won't see the penguins (I
have seen Yellow-eyed Penguin from the Kaikoura boat, but it is generally very unlikely), and the cormorants are Otago Shags which are only found in the southern part of the South Island.
- Zealandia. Night tour - if you are going to stay on Tiritiri Matangi, and you do Auckland at the start of your trip, you could skip Zealandia's night tour unless you didn't manage to see the Little Spotted Kiwi on Tiritiri.
- Akaroa. Black Cat Cruises. - Hector's Dolphins (this is your most likely place to see them, so I wouldn't skip it)
- Kaikoura. Albatross Encounter. - if you only have time (or funds!) for one seabird boat then make it this one. You can see a dozen or more tubenoses in one trip. It is pretty expensive now, but it is worth it. Hector's Dolphins may be seen from this boat as well.
- Kaikoura. Kia Ora! Whales - this is for Sperm Whales. Other species are possible. Note that you will see albatrosses from this boat but they won't be close and the whale guides won't be able to identify them, and the different companies are only licensed for their specific fields, so (e.g.) the albatross boat can't approach any whales or dolphins that they see.
- Kaikoura. Dolphin Encounter NZ. Dolphins - this is for Dusky Dolphins (these are really common off Kaikoura so you will quite likely see them from land anyway). Basically, of the Kaikoura tours, go with the albatross boat and only do the others if you really want to see Sperm Whales or Dusky Dolphins. You can probably do two of them in a single day though, if you have the time and money.
- Auckland.
https://whalewatchingauckland.com. Whales - this is for Bryde's Whales, and they regularly see other species too (Killer Whales, Pilot Whales, etc). Almost every trip will see Common Dolphins. Having said that, I have been on this boat three times and still not seen a Bryde's Whale!
- Picton. E-Ko Tours. - this is for King Shags which are only found in Cook Strait. The boat can also drop you on Blumine Island for Orange-fronted Kakariki, but you should be able to see these at Auckland Zoo. They do a trip to Motuara Island which has South Island Saddleback and Okarito Brown Kiwi, so if you go there you could skip the following tour, especially if you camp on Motuara to look for the kiwi at night. However if you are flying from, say, Wellington to Christchurch then you wouldn't be here anyway.
- Okarito. Okarito Kiwi Tours. Okarito Brown Kiwi are only found at Okarito apart for birds above.