Kaikoura is open for business, including the world-renowned Whale Watch, eco-tourism/wildlife attractions, shops, and accommodation.

Key points:

• Kaikoura is a small community approximately 2 ½ hours’ drive north of Christchurch in the South Island.
• New Zealand remains a safe a place to travel.
• The event did have an impact on communities around the region, including Kaikoura, but the country is still open for business – including Kaikoura.
• In the South Island in Nelson, Marlborough, Picton, West Coast, Christchurch and south of Christchurch, the earthquake has not had significantly damaging effects and it is largely ‘business as usual’.
• The North Island of New Zealand was largely unaffected, so anyone wishing to travel around the North Island can do so.
• The international gateway cities of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown are all open and welcoming visitors. Regional airports are also operating as usual, meaning visitors can continue to fly between destinations.
• Visitors arriving into Christchurch can travel north to Kaikoura or south to Dunedin, Central Otago, Southland and the Queenstown Lakes area without any change. Alternatively visitors may wish to travel across from Christchurch to the West Coast and down to the Queenstown Lakes region and Southland via Fiordland. Both routes are unaffected.
• Visitors wishing to travel north from Christchurch to Nelson and Picton can use alternative road routes, although they will take longer than the more direct State Highway 1 route while repairs to this road are completed.