By car
Kaikoura is on State Highway 1, and you must pass through it if you are driving that route. Two hours drive north of Christchurch.
By bus
A number of bus or shuttle services run from Picton to Christchurch. They will all stop at Kaikoura.
By plane
Kaikoura Airport is a one of New Zealand's smaller airports. It's not an airstrip, as the runway is sealed for a smoother landing. Don't expect to join crowds of other passengers filing aboard a widebodied jet, or even a narrowbodied one. You'll fly in a plane the size of a compact car, where every seat has a window, or two, and a door as well. You might even get to sit alongside the pilot, so don't play with the controls! Oh, and you will have to carry your own bags, so pack well and don't have too much luggage; excess baggage doesn't fly.
By train
Kaikoura is on the Scenic rail line between Picton and Christchurch. There is one train, but it stops at Kaikoura twice. It leaves from Christchuch in the morning, stops at Kaikoura on the way up to Picton, and then it stops again at Kaikoura on it's way back to Christchurch.
The train journey is fantastic with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, the train follows the coast for the last part of the journey into Kaikoura and you can often see fur seals lazing on the rocks.
The station itself is on Whaleway Station Road presumably named because Whale Watch Kaikoura operate out of the station.