Bradley Patton with the GoPro camera he had attached to his paddle while photographing dolphins at Oreti Beach, Invercargill.

Bradley Patton is nearly on a first-name basis with Southland's dolphins, having paddled with them on about 10 occasions over the summer and early autumn.

Patton, the manager of the Elles Rd New World in Invercargill, has posted a stunning video on You Tube of himself paddling with seven or eight dolphins at the main entrance to Invercargill's Oreti Beach on Saturday morning.

It was about the 10th time he had paddled with dolphins in Southland locations this summer, he said.

Bradley Patton/YouTube Surfer Bradley Patton had an encounter with rare dolphins over the Easter weekend.

Saturday morning's excursion at Oreti Beach was something special, however, with more dolphins than the norm getting up close and personal for up to two hours with Patton.

He was on his stand-up paddle board about 150m to 200m out to sea, just beyond the surf, when catching waves with the dolphins and enjoying their company.

The video footage was taken from his camera attached to the end of his paddle.

"They were catching the waves as I was catching the waves. It was awesome. They were pretty playful ... very curious and inquisitive."

The dolphins were almost touching his board on occasions.

He had not seen dolphins at Oreti Beach when he was growing up.

"They seem to be there a lot more often these days."