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Welcome to Coast Up Close

We love our beautiful backyard and we love what we do. Local (one of us is Kiwi as) and family-run, Tony and Mafi have a ton of experience – a combined 80+ years on Akaroa Harbour and the waters around Banks Peninsula.

We take out small groups for a more personal experience and we love chatting to everyone. Our small boat will get you up close, but with enough space to move around for the best viewing and photo opportunities.

Wildlife Cruises

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Fishing Charters

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Private Tours

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Explore Akaroa With Us

We had the most amazing trip today, Tony was friendly and knowledgeable and put everyone at their ease. He was very accommodating and adapted the tour according to the conditions to make it a comfortable trip for everyone. We saw amazing scenery, caves, cliffs, dolphins, penguins, jellyfish and many sea birds – I feel incredibly lucky to have found Coast Up Close.

Ben from the UK

Best Akaroa wildlife tour I’ve been on. Great day out on the water. So fortunate to see an abundance of wildlife. Small tour group made for an intimate experience. I’ve been on wildlife cruises with most of the Akaroa providers, and this was by far my favourite. The team were so warm and welcoming to my family, including my young infant. Small boat meant we could go the other tour providers couldn’t. Will book with Tony and the team again.

Ming from NZ

We had such an amazing time! This is a gorgeous, relaxed tour. We took our 4 y.o. and 8 month old infant and it was quite easy. Tony and Mafi were very knowledgeable and personable but we still had lots of time to ourselves to enjoy the boat ride and the view on our own, and they sent us gorgeous photos of all the animals we saw as a follow-up. Highly recommend!!”

Hilary Gan from USA