Kaikoura New Zealand is a small town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. This picturesque coastal town with fewer than 3000 permanent residents is known for the beauty of its natural location, a place to have whale and dolphin encounters and a good place for crayfish; in fact, the name of the town derives from the Maori words ‘kai’ (food) and ‘koura’ (crayfish). The town is in a spectacular environment located between the majestic Seaward Kaikoura Range and the Pacific ocean.

Kaikoura New Zealand has become a popular tourist destination as a result. There are a multitude of walking tracks that people can enjoy into the mountains one of the most popular being the Mt Fyffe track which winds up the mountain and gives a panoramic view of the peninsula on which the town is located. The mountain is named after the Fyffe family who were the first Europeans to settle in the area and a cottage that they built in 1842 is open as a tourist attraction.

The main attraction for tourists, however, is the rich marine life that exists in the area. The Kaikoura peninsula causes currents from the Hikurangi trench to bring nutrients to that surface which draw an abundance of marine life to the area. The town owes its origins to this since it drew whales to the area which were initially hunted for their oil. Today the whales continue to bring economic prosperity to the town but now it is through whale watching tours as well as the possibility of swimming with dolphins. There is also a colony of southern fur seals located on the eastern edge of town that is popular with tourists, particularly at low tide when tourists can walk out along the rocky shoreline and observe them up close.

Kaikoura has developed into one of the most famous ecotourism sites in the world and has done so in little more than a few decades as it leveraged its unique natural position to draw tourists to the area. After the collapse of the fishing industry in the 1980s an enterprising Maori leader came up with the idea of buying a boat and taking visitors on tours to see the whales. This became highly successful and by 1996 the town was hosting some 200,000 visitors a year and lodgings, restaurants and other support services were developed too meet the growing demand.