New Zealand cuisine features fresh Pacific seafood, lamb, and dairy products with strong Maori and Pacific influences. Green-lipped mussels, Bluff oysters, crayfish, and blue cod are regional specialities. The hangi, a traditional Maori earth oven feast, is a cultural dining experience. The craft beer and wine scene is world-class, with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Central Otago Pinot Noir among the finest globally. Farm-to-table dining and artisan food producers are abundant throughout both islands.

The White Morph Heritage

Kaikoura Quality Suites

Alpine-Pacific Holiday Park

The George Christchurch

Kaikoura is one of New Zealand's most extraordinary dive destinations, where the Kaikoura Peninsula meets the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean creating a unique marine environment of kelp forests, giant crayfish, and abundant marine mammals. The peninsula's underwater landscape features dense kelp forest, sea tulips, colourful nudibranchs, and some of the largest crayfish in New Zealand. New Zealand fur seals are a major highlight, with playful interactions common both above and below the water. Dusky dolphins frequently swim with divers, and sperm whales can be observed on the surface between dives. The marine environment benefits from the upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water along the Kaikoura Canyon, one of the deepest submarine canyons in the world, which supports an incredible food chain from plankton to whales. Haumuri Bluffs offers advanced drift diving with schooling blue maomao, while Goose Bay provides intimate seal interaction dives. The compact nature of Kaikoura means that world-class diving, whale watching, and seal swimming are all within minutes of the town centre.

Kaikoura

Drive from Christchurch approximately 2.5 hours along the scenic coastal highway

Dive Sites in Kaikoura