Lily Hislop, 2012 New Zealand Adventure Tourism student blogger, writes:

Ready to jump in the ocean

At 7:30 this morning everyone sat around our faculty member, with a pill in our hands, waiting with baited breath. We were supposed to go on a dolphin swim today, and at 7:30 exactly we find out if the trip can go on or not, depending on the weather. And so we waited with anticipation. Waiting to know if we will have to take our Dramamines for motion sickness, or whether we will not be going on a boat that morning. And… she gives the thumbs up. We are go. We each take our pill and let out a cheer. We arrive at the dolphin encounter store front, and are fitted out with very tight very thick wet suits.

On the whole, they were not very comfortable. I couldn’t stand up straight. My skin itched. Someone pondered allowed “I wonder how many people have peed in this suit”. And then there’s that image. But I managed to squeeze in, feeling very badass, and lugged all my stuff to the bus. They warned us that while we would get on the boat and go see what we could find, we might not get in the water. And if we could get in the water, the dolphins might not come to us. It was all very up in the air, subject to change at a moment’s notice. But we loaded the bus and set sail.

Viewing the playful Dusky Dolphins

The ocean was filled with swells. While I get car sick, I rarely get boat sick, and I enjoyed the boat diving into the surf immensely. Some other people on our boat? Not so much. As we raced to where the dolphins were, I saw tons of sea birds, and a seal leaping from the water. And then there was the signal. Dolphins were in the area, so we were to jump in and sing in attempts to attract them. And I jumped in. And then I immediately wanted to jump out. The water floods the wet suit, squeezing your veins, making your entire body feel like one big brain freeze. But I’m supposed to be singing! Oh right. I start singing random folk songs with my constricted breath. And I’m supposed to put my face in the water! I do so. Oh that’s so much worse. As I become more acclimated to the water there goes the signal. Everyone back on the boat. We haul ourselves up and they drive on towards the dolphins again. We can only go in the water five times, we better make this one count.

Enjoying the Kaikoura coastline

On our second dive I had a Giant Petrel fly right over my head and land really close. On our third dive I had two Dusky Dolphins swim under me. On our fourth dive a group of seven swam right next to me. It was truly amazing. But all too soon, we’re back on the boat, stripping our wet suits and putting on dry clothes. They apologized profusely that the dolphins weren’t more social. That was silly though, because I had dolphins right up close. I was very content. I got some hot chocolate and a cookie and went to the bow, where tons of dolphins were swimming alongside the boat, doing jumps and backflips. Oh, now you like us. And then we headed back to shore. Swimming with a wet suit, especially in 11 degree water, is tiring. We had a nice Panini lunch at the dolphin encounters cafe, and I was falling asleep over the meal. We got dismissed for a free afternoon. I disembarked and walked down the beach to see what I could find. I’m typing this on a very nice pebble beach with the surf before me, and my legs being attacked by sand flies. You win some you lose some.