Air Activities

Promo code RANKERS - good deal done!

Wings Over Whales

Promo code RANKERS. Save 10%

4.5 34 reviews

South Pacific Helicopters

Promo code RANKERS. 10% Off

Whale Watching From Above

The main reason to go up in the air over Kaikoura is the whales. Flying out over the coast to spot sperm whales is a genuinely different experience from the boat tours. You trade the intimacy of being up close at sea for the scale of it all - you can actually see how enormous these animals are from the air, and on a clear day the Seaward Kaikoura Range behind you and the Pacific in front make for a pretty wild backdrop. The promo code RANKERS gets you 10% off, which is handy given scenic flights here aren't cheap.

If whales aren't playing ball, the scenery alone does most of the work. That combination of mountains meeting ocean is pretty special from altitude. There's also helicopter flights up here with the same RANKERS discount, and for something a bit different, the local aero club runs try-a-flight experiences where you actually get your hands on the controls, which people seem to love. Kaikoura is mostly about the wildlife down low, but it turns out the view from up top is pretty hard to argue with.