Kangaroo Island - Swim with Dolphins/Seals/Coastal Snorkel
Recommended by 92% of travelers
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Kangaroo Island, Australia
- 2 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Add a water adventure to your Kangaroo Island itinerary with a snorkeling tour that departs daily from Christmas Cove Marina. Going with a guide ensures you visit the best locations for viewing wildlife, from long-nosed seals to dolphins. In addition to live commentary about the area’s animals and ongoing conservation efforts, your guide provides wetsuits, snorkeling equipment, and sunscreen, ensuring a safe and comfortable trip.
What's Included
- Use of Snorkeling equipmentUse of Snorkelling equipment
- Wetsuits
- Life Jackets
- Jackets
- Sunscreen
- Informative commentary
- Food
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 43 Howard Dr, Penneshaw SA 5222, Australia
MUST ARRIVE 30 MINUTES PRIOR - Meet at the Kangaroo Island Information Spot in Penneshaw (opposite Christmas Cove Marina) - There are change rooms at the Information Spot to be fitted into wetsuits.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Start time.12:00 pm
What To Expect
1
Kangaroo Island Ocean Safari
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Most travelers can participate
- Recommended children be over the age of 9 years old to participate in swimming activity.
- Not recommended for those with a pacemaker
- Not suitable for those who are pregnant (can be on vessel but not in water)
- Water temperature is between 14-15 degrees. Expect it to be refreshing. We provide wetsuits (compulsory to wear). Kids under 14 are double wet suited. You can ask to be double wet suited if you are prone to being cold.
- Please bring a warm jacket! We will have waterproof jackets on board but you can put your warm jacket over the top when getting out the water.
- Seal numbers vary throughout the different seasons. Numbers peak in winter and are at their lowest from Nov-Jan
- Wildlife Interactions are NOT guaranteed. The team will do their best on the day to give you the best experience possible. If you get in the water at any stage for coastal snorkeling, seals swim or dolphin swim YOU DO NOT get any money refunded.
- For safety reasons swim will not be conducted when a pod has neonates (baby dolphins) with them. You are welcome to observe them from aboard the vessel.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 20 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Louis_Z
Amazing experience. We got to swim with seals and see a big pack of dolphins. Sadly we weren't able to swim with them but still was amazing. Thanks to our guides.
Reviews
4.7
based on 280 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Braiden_B, Jul 2026
It's an incredibly enjoyable experience, staff are super friendly and helpful and the animals are super cute
Louis_Z, Apr 2026
Amazing experience. We got to swim with seals and see a big pack of dolphins. Sadly we weren't able to swim with them but still was amazing. Thanks to our guides.
Michelle_C, Mar 2026
This was not what I expected. For some reason I was thinking the seals would be in the water with us within in a protected pool of water, not out in the open ocean potentially bumping up against rocks along the coast. Once the seals were within sight, we all got into the water and then had to swim over to where they were hanging out on the rocks, hoping one of them would dive in, but then when one did, we'd stick our head under water, but it was too choppy and bubbly to see anything because of the water hitting the rocks. Overall it was a pretty disappointing experience because of this. The only reason I gave this a start rating is because the staff was friendly and helpful and I felt safe.
Jason_L, Mar 2026
Surprisingly close encounters with both dolphins and seals. Excellent experience and knowledgable guides.
Sacha_B, Jan 2026
Lovely day, the staff were great. Brand new 5mm suits. I was very worried about getting into 14 degree water as I won’t even swim in a pool unless it’s like bath water. But the suits were very good. We have done many of these trips and you can not expect to see anything and only hope you do.
We saw 4 seals lying on the rocks and was able to swim fairly close, also checking the fish out.
Unfortunately we did not get to swim with dolphins, however did come across some and was able to get a pic of them under the boat.
What I liked was it was only a short trip, only 10 mins till we saw the seals and 15 mins to next stop for dolphins. I have been on trips where you are in a boat for over an hour each way and don’t get to see anything.
Definitely worth a shot.
Well organised, nice people.
Brigitte_Y, Nov 2025
exciting experience for good swimmers! nice crew, that leads you in good way through the 2 hours trip!
GE_N, Sep 2025
The experience itself deserves more than 5 stars really. Phenomenal swim with seals. And though tge dolphins were not up for sone interaction we did spot 2 small pods with babies and feeding from the boat. So why 4 stars? Communication really. I contacted company through viator 2x before and after booking. No one cared to respond. So if you have no questions book this tour!!! You will love it! If you do have questions. Be prepared to not get an awnswer.... i would still recommend this experience to everyone with good swimming skills though. Great gear. Great skipper and deckmate. We loved it!
Response from Host, Sep 2025
Hi - you were contacting the agent you booked through. Not us direct. If you had phoned us direct we would have answered the phone as we are open every day. I’m glad you enjoyed the experience.
Stephen_F, Mar 2025
The team did the best they could although the wildlife was a bit scare tight to the end. They made everything fun and we did get to see dolphins swiminh
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Thank you for your review. We're glad you still had a good time out even if our local wildlife wasn't as present as usual.
Ken_F, Feb 2025
The staff is extremely helpful and made sure that we had all the gear necessary as well as the proper fit. The snorkeling itself was enjoyable but a little disappointing because we didn't get to see any dolphins. There were dolphins around but because they had calves in the pod, we could not get in the water anywhere near them. The tour company goes out everyday so I'm sure they knew that there were calves in the local pods and probably should have told their guests in advance that this might be an issue in terms of being in the water with dolphins. We did however see a couple of seals when we were snorkeling which was great. Other than that, there are not a lot of fish to see and no coral reefs. Overall enjoyed getting in the water and snorkeling but probably wouldn't do it again.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your review. How lucky that you were able to see both dolphins and seals on your trip. Aren't the young neonates (young dolphins) so very cute!
While we understand it may have been disappointing that the dolphin pod you saw could not be swum with, you are mistaken in regards to knowing pods would be unavailable. As you will be able to see from other recent reviews, not all pods have calves and of those that do, not all of them are young enough (neonates) that it is not safe to swim with them. You could have just as easily seen a pod without calves or one with calves old enough that it was safe to jump in. It is the luck of the draw with wild animals.
We're glad to hear you enjoyed your time out with us none the less, despite the misunderstanding.
Sun_N, Jan 2025
The tour of the local sealife spots and being able to see them firsthand was very fun. The staff made it more enjoyable by being friendly and sharing interesting tidbits of information.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you so much! We're glad you had a great time.
Pamela_G, Jan 2025
It is no guarantee to swim with dolphins. They do make that clear. However they would have know the pod had babies and it is not allowed to get in with them. So it is left to be a swim with seals who also did not want to swim much . Crew was excellent and informative. Tour was disappointing for the cost
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you for the review. You are correct that we do not guarantee seeing wildlife on the day, so it is fantastic to hear you saw both dolphins and seals.
In regard to the dolphins seen, there was no way to know that the pod you saw would have young calves with them. There are many, many different pods that live and travel through the waters of our swim. It was just chance that the pod you saw on the day happened to have young calves (neonates) with them. Not all the pods do and not all of them have neonates young enough that we cannot swim with them. It is erroneous to say we knew this would happen. While it may have been disappointing to not get to swim with them, what a blessing to get to see young calves up close, even if by boat! We're sorry to hear that it was not a chance you appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to review.
Maree_N, Jan 2025
It's a wildlife trip so expect anything. The dolphin swim was chaotic but a lot of fun - and thrilling when we saw them but you had to swim fast! Not all of us saw the dolphins & they were not in the mood to hang around with us .... sadly.
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you for the review. It is definitely unpredictable on how the dolphins choose to act on the day. It's a pity that they didnt choose to interact on your swim but we are glad you still got to see them. Thank you for sharing your review.
Bridget_R, Jan 2025
Staff was amazing and very organized and comfortable setup. There is a bit of a step getting on/off of the boat and you need to be physically strong enough in the arms to hold onto the rope while they bring you to the dolphins. Suggestion is to swim fast to the seals and dolphins in case they see a crowd behind that kicks a bit too much. Saw a good school of dolphins, but crew thought they were not as curious as normal because they had “kids” in the pod. The seals were so cute, but not a ton. For me an amazing experience because I was able to swim a bit ahead and make sure I didn’t heard any pods in the wrong direction. Crew is amazing and will work their butts off to get you the best experience!
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us and our customers. We really appreciate it and your lovely compliments.
Madalyn_P, Jan 2025
The staff was great and it ended up being a lot of fun. We saw both seals and dolphins, we couldn’t swim with the dolphins because they were hunting but it was still a great experience
Response from Host, Jan 2025
Thank you for the lovely review! We're glad you had a great time out.
Hanna_K, Nov 2024
It was incredible! The team were very kind and funny. I arrived a little late but they waited for me and were still amazingly nice about it, and helped me get ready quickly so we’d be off soon.
We searched for dolphins but didn’t find any the first time around. So we went to swim with seals!! They were soooo cute!! Honestly the best part of the experience. They are very beautiful and curious animals who will come very close to you. Very unique experience - and someone always in the water in case you need some help.
The water isn’t too bad because you have wetsuits on, but they got the timings just right. We had loads of time wihh th the seals and got back to the boat just as we were starting to get cold.
And they had some warm jackets and hot water showers for us so we warmed up quick.
Then our amazing crew searched for the remainder of our time for the dolphin pods, never giving up!
And we did find dolphins and ended up swimming with them!
This part is a little more difficult as dolphins swim quickly but we managed to swim with them for a little bit and then saw them from the boat - they came right up to the boat once they got used to us. If we would have found them sooner we likely would have been able to swim among them as well.
But even so the experience was beyond my expectations and would definitely recommend to anyone!!!
Response from Host, Dec 2024
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. It really makes our day to hear how our experience can be so wonderful for our customers and is a bright point for us each day!
Luc_V, Apr 2023
I have nearly no experience in snorkling. A short repeat of how to snorkel would help a lot. On the other side, we saw dolphins from very nearby. The staff was very helpfull and attentif.
Dawn_A, Apr 2023
Based in a garage behind the visitors centre. Completed the paperwork and got fitted out with wetsuits etc. There were changing pods and places to leave cloths, valuables etc. Bused down to the bay and onto the boat. Dolphins were not in their usual spot so went snorkeling with the seals. Water was a bit cold but the current was strong, my wife got out after 10 mins. I enjoyed this although tbh the fish were more interesting than the seals. We went back to the dolphin cove but thry still were not there. We were given the choice of snorkeling again or go and find the dolphins, I was out voted so we went looking for dolphins which we did but could not swim with them. It was now cold on the boat but they supplied jackets which were welcome. Back to shore, different bus back to base only to find out that the garage key was on the other bus so we all stood round in wetsuits getting colder. One of the participants had a swiss army knife and managed to unlock the garage! Not sure how safe my wallet and passport had been. To be fair, the captain and staff were really good, equipment was excellent. I would however liked to have spent more time in the water as this was a snorkeling tour. Also accept that dealing with wildlife can be unpredictable. I want to be fair but this was my experience.
Response from Host, Apr 2023
Thank you for the review.
We are glad to see that you got to enjoy swimming with seals and seeing local marine life including dolphins. We do advertise that the water is cold (double wetsuiting is available and jackets are recommended) and that you must have some swimming capability due to it being the ocean.
We do have a storage shed for equipment but we are not based from a shed. We are based on boats in a lovely marina. There is nowhere there to store snorkelling gear or change so we also have well maintained and organised equipment and changing rooms at the Visitor Centre (attached to the rear) as the nearest accessible building. It is how we keep our equipment in ‘excellent’ condition as you point out.
We take everyone’s personal property safety seriously. A small delay due to a different bus being used was unfortunate but was remedied by our staff, who as you point out are really good at what they do.
Thanks for joining us. We are glad you had the opportunity to swim with seals, snorkel beautiful coastline and view dolphins.
Ioanna_K, Mar 2023
An amazing experience, we saw both the dolphins and the seals. Of course its difficult to catch up with the dolphins but still it was fun to see them.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Thank you for the review. We are so glad you had a great time and hope to see you again.
Brett_W, Mar 2023
Me and my partner went in early March and had a fantastic experience of swimming with both dolphins and seals. We were able to use our own GoPro to capture the experience which was great. There was minimal information shared to the group during the trip about the animals. We did feel we had a good amount of time in the water though.
Response from Host, Mar 2023
Thank you for the review. We definitely enjoy sharing facts about the local area and marine life on tour. During the snorkel our guides focus on making sure you have the best and safest experience possible whilst in the water. Your safety is our priority :) We're glad you had a great time.
Alex_A, Mar 2022
Amazing experience. We swam with Dolphins and Seals. The crew was great, very professional and safe. Definitely recommend
Robert_O, Feb 2022
Such a fun day. We got to swim with dolphins and a seal! The staff were great, we took our kids and they made sure the kids were well taken care of, even when they wanted to get back on the boat while we stayed in the water. It’s a bit of a workout and even as experienced swimmers we were worn out at the end, but it’s worth it. We had a great time!!
Andrew_D, Jan 2022
Was such a good experience, would do it again when my partner and my self travel to kangaroo island again. The staff were so amazing and very helpful
John_K, Dec 2021
Not happy with tour we were in the water for maybe 20 minutes and hardly saw anything.saw no seals so didn't get to snorkel properly like photos show.
Response from Host, Jan 2022
Hi John
I am sorry this happened on your tour. We had a few very challenging tours with the wildlife over the Christmas week but please note this is out of our control. Our staff were doing their best to ensure everyone had a great time on board, but the wildlife were not feeling playful. Thankfully, this has all changed now. I do sincerely wish it had been different. Please note that a refund was made back to the viewing price on your tour. Please call me if this has not occurred. The best place to view current up to date photos are via the KI Ocean Safari facebook pages and Instagram Pages. This will show what the current interactions have been like.
Matthew_D, Dec 2021
No dolphins or seals and snorkeling was pretty average. Maybe shouldn’t have gone out with the weather being poor and not being able to get to normal spots
Response from Host, Dec 2021
Hi,
Thankyou for taking the time out to write a review. Wildlife is certainly something out of our control and on occasions conditions are challenging. We have had some absolutely spectacular tours recently so it’s unfortunate this occurred on yours. I did however refund your tour back to viewing price and provided a gift card to come out again. We hope to see you on board soon.
Kind regards
KI OCEAN SAFARI
Swetha_B, May 2021
Was a great experience. We got to swim with a lot of dolphins and seals. The guides were both very knowledgeable, accomodating and fun. 100% recommend to give it a shot!
Hannah_L, Mar 2021
What a way to end our 4 day trip. Couldnt have asked for a better send off then swimming with a pod of dolphins. Its expected that you can not get too close to these amazing animals. Although the gratitude I hold from my experience is something I will never forget. Thankyou to our guides you did an awesome job.
Yao_Y, Nov 2020
Amazing experience!
The boat was comfortable and left us with plenty of room and space to see.
The staff are very friendly and considerate. We saw wild dolphins, eagles, seals, sea lions, and so many wild animals. This is a must go if you like wildlife and boat rides
Dolphins swimming all around us and spent some good time with them, then onto some other local attractions and the seals, we were lucky enough to get a seal swimming with us!
Great experience. I love it.
Thanks
From $138.41
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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