A Hawke’s Bay man has experienced a moment that felt like a summer dream – surfing the waves with a pod of dolphins.

Around 10am on Sunday, Karamū High School teacher Byron Crawford was out on the waves at Waimārama Beach on his foil prone assist board – a foilboard with a small electric motor to make catching waves with the foil easier.

Because of a lack of swell, Crawford decided to venture out to Te Motu-o-Kura/Bare Island to see his nephew who was out there diving.

“As I headed over there, I saw some fins in the water,” Crawford said.

He quickly made sure they weren’t sharks first, “because obviously you don’t want to be playing with them”, and realised he was sharing the waves with a pod of about 15 to 20 dolphins, with a few calves swimming alongside their parents.

Crawford approached the dolphins and spent “a good 10 minutes” surfing with the pod.

“I was just cruising around and they were jumping around me, jumping in and out of the water.

“If I leaned down, I could have probably touched them, that’s how close they were to the board.

“But, you’re also conscious you don’t want to interrupt their day, you know, we were in their backyard, so to speak. So it was a privilege.”

Byron Crawford rides the waves off Waimārama beach alongside a pod of dolphins. Photo / Summer Crawford

A Department of Conservation spokesperson said Crawford was surfing with common dolphins, which have a distinctive colouration, forming a criss-cross or hour-glass type pattern centred on the animals’ flanks.

Some Hawke’s Bay residents will know common dolphins from their time in the pools of Marineland in Napier.

Common dolphins are found in waters throughout New Zealand and can be seen in pods of thousands.

DoC says the status of common dolphins is not threatened.

In his “20 odd years” of surfing and foiling at Waimārama, Crawford said this was only the second time he had surfed with dolphins.

“So it’s a pretty rare thing.”

“But to have it on a beautiful day with beautiful, clear water ... I was pretty much by myself until my [family] came over to capture some footage of it.

“It was amazing.”

Crawford’s daughter Summer has now entered one of the shots she took of the day into Hawke’s Bay Today’s summer photo competition.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.