Our Boat Guardian
Tourism New Zealand

Our vessel ‘Guardian’ is a purpose built Twin hull 50ft catamaran built by Cougar Marine in Australia. Powered by twin Caterpillar 3208 Turbocharged 375hp diesel engines, and a top speed in excess of 27 knots makes Guardian the fastest eco tourism charter vessel by far in the Bay of Plenty area, which means we cover twice as much ocean as anyone else can, which means more chance of finding the wild dolphins!

Fully licensed and in full MSA survey, it is extremely spacious for the best in customer comfort and access. Walk straight through the transom (Rear access) from the marina jetty, no steps or climbing, and through our rear open deck area into the main salon with comfortable seating areas on both sides of the boat. The tables have folders and educational books for customers to enjoy and use for mammal identification purposes during the trips.

Guardian had a complete major luxury refit for the summer 2008/09 season.

Our upper fly bridge deck / observation area has comfortable seating also inside & out so that you can enjoy the vista and view all around the boat.

A large centre access way leads through to the spacious front open deck viewing area, where you can watch the Dolphins all around the front area as the skim and glide along when the boat is moving. A high safety rail is in place all around this area.

We have a large walk in WC /washroom on the port side ( left ) and Galley / bar area to the starboard (right side ) where hot drinks and snacks are available for our passengers throughout the trip.

A full compliment of safety equipment and lifejackets are carried on board at all times. The boat also has AC/DC power supply on board to enable any land based electrical equipment to be used.

Flat screen TV / video systems on both main decks show live footage from our underwater camera system. So if you don’t swim or go in the water, you can still see the dolphins underwater at when they are around the boat.

We also have Hydrophones onboard to listen to the dolphins and whales communicating, this can be heard in all areas inside and out via speakers linked to the onboard PA system from which the skipper can give a full commentary and information during our trips.
Copyright Dolphin Seafaris (NZ) Ltd. © 2012