Things to do in Kaikōura

7 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Kaikōura takes its name from crayfish: kai means food or meal, kōura means crayfish, and the full Māori name refers to the fires where Tama ki te Rangi ate them. Today the town is best known for what lives offshore. The Kaikōura Canyon reaches deep water close to the coast, and sperm whales, dusky dolphins, fur seals and albatrosses can be seen within a short distance of town.

The sea decides a lot here, so put the trips that depend on calm water early in your stay and fill the rest of the time around them.

Whales, dolphins and seals

The whale-watching cruise by Whale Watch Kaikōura is the trip most people plan around. It leaves from the Old Railway Station on Whaleway Station Road, takes about three and a half hours including the bus to the marina, and refunds 80 percent of the fare if no whale is seen. From the air you can look for the whales on a light aircraft or a helicopter. Our page on whale watching in Kaikōura compares the boat with the flights.

The fur seals are closer to shore. Kayak tours paddle or pedal along the rocks of the peninsula, the half-day llama trek walks you to the colony, and in the warmer months a guided snorkel takes you into the water with them, from 12 years and for confident swimmers. The details are on our pages about kayaking with seals and swimming with seals.

Scenic flights over the ranges

The Seaward Kaikōura Range rises straight behind the town. According to the Department of Conservation these mountains are lifting by about 10 millimetres a year, faster than any others in New Zealand. A scenic flight shows them from above, and several also pass the traces of the 2016 earthquake.

The coastal and alpine flight by Air Kaikōura lasts 25 minutes in the air, about an hour in total. It climbs to around 6,000 feet behind Mt Fyffe, crosses Lake Hapuku, which formed in the 2016 earthquake, and returns along the beach and the peninsula. If bad weather cancels it, the fare is refunded in full.

Kaikōura Helicopters flies from 16 West End in town. Its 40-minute summit tour lands on Mt Fyffe at 1,602 metres, often on snow in winter, and passes cracks left by the earthquake. The grand alpine tour lasts an hour and a half, climbs above 8,000 feet into the ranges and looks out over the Clarence Valley towards Tapuae-o-Uenuku. For two people there is a private picnic on a landing site chosen by the pilot, with a cheese platter and a drink.

South Pacific Helicopters adds a gin tasting on a hilltop with the owner of Mt Fyffe Distillery, for adults only, and each guest takes home a 375 ml bottle. This trip, like the private whale flight with a marine biologist, is booked for the whole helicopter, which takes up to five people. For a mix of air and water, the Helijet trip flies south to a jet boat ride in the Hurunui River gorge.

Ziplines, llamas and quad bikes

On Rakanui Station, a working farm of 3,000 acres, EcoZip Adventures has built five dual ziplines that run back down the hill, between 250 and 620 metres long. A Unimog drives you up through valleys and river crossings first. The course runs all year, and the limit is weight rather than age: 30 to 125 kg, with an adult zipping alongside anyone aged 15 or under.

The quad bike tour from Glenstrae Farm, 20 minutes south of town, rides through bush and hill country to the seals at the Haumuri Bluffs, from 16 years. At Hapuku Kitchen you can spend half a day foraging in the garden and cooking with the hosts, with at most eight guests. All of these are covered on our page on zipline and adventure tours.

The Peninsula Walkway and Point Kean

The main free outing in Kaikōura is the walk around the peninsula. The Department of Conservation's Peninsula Walkway is 11.7 kilometres long, graded easy, and starts in the town centre. Allow at least three hours for the whole loop. From the centre it is 4.4 kilometres to the car park at Point Kean, where fur seals often lie on the rocks. The track then follows the clifftop to lookouts over Whalers Bay and South Bay, and you return to town over the neck of the peninsula.

The cliff edges are unfenced, so keep to the track and supervise children at all times. Stay at least 20 metres from the seals, and remember that high tide can block the route along the shore. There are no toilets on the clifftop; the nearest are at Armers Beach and South Bay. Our page on the Kaikōura Peninsula Walkway describes each section.

History in town

Fyffe House at 62 Avoca Street is the oldest surviving building in Kaikōura and the last remnant of a whaling station from the early 1840s. Part of the cottage rests on piles made from the vertebrae of a southern right whale. It opens daily from Labour Weekend in October until April, and from Thursday to Monday between May and September.

The Kaikōura Museum at 96 West End has a long-running exhibition called New Normal about the 2016 earthquake. The quake struck at two minutes past midnight on 14 November 2016 with a magnitude of 7.8. More than 20 faults ruptured, a world record, and parts of the coast were lifted by up to 6.5 metres.

Crayfish, seals by the road and the hills

Given the name, crayfish is the local dish. Destination Kaikōura lists several seafood stalls along the coast road, among them Nin's Bin, Karaka Lobster and Kaikōura Seafood BBQ. North of town, Ōhau Point has the largest fur seal breeding colony on the east coast of the South Island. The shoreline there is a sanctuary closed to the public, and you watch the seals from the viewing area by the highway.

For a walk in the hills, drive about 15 kilometres to the Mt Fyffe car park. The Hinau Track there is an easy 45-minute loop through the bush, while the route to Mt Fyffe Hut takes about five hours return and is graded advanced. After dark, Kaikōura's status as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary makes stargazing worth a late night.