Akaroa Dolphins is owned and operated by Hugh & Pip Waghorn and Craig & Georgie Rhodes, long-time residents of Banks Peninsula.

Pip’s ancestor, Etienne Francois Le Lievre from Normandy, first arrived in Akaroa in 1838 as a blacksmith aboard the whaling boat Nil. He returned to France and helped his good friend Captain Langlois set up the Nanto-Bordelaise Immigration Company. With 63 passengers aboard the Compte de Paris they arrived in Akaroa in 1840.

The family has lived here ever since and is the most numbered of the early settlers. Pip is a trained teacher and before taking up full time farming taught in most schools on the Peninsula where she gained a deep and intimate knowledge of the history of the area.

Hugh's family emigrated from Kent, England on board the Randolph as part of the Canterbury Association sponsored First Four Ships, arriving on Banks Peninsula in December 1850. The family took up farming and are now the biggest single family group living on Banks Peninsula. After studying agriculture, Hugh extensively travelled the world before farming on Banks Peninsula with Pip.

It was their love of this special region that led Hugh and Pip to develop Akaroa Dolphins into a special experience so that you can share this beautiful environment and heritage with them and their friendly crew.