A trio of Wellingtonians scrambled down steep cliffs to rescue a pair of stranded dolphins off the city's South Coast.

Melissa Prowse was watching a pod of about 50 dolphins from the cliffs between Princess Bay and Houghton Bay on Tuesday morning when they all came in near a small alcove at the foot of the cliffs.

"They all swam off and two got stuck."

MELISSA PROWSE Wellingtonians came to the rescue when two dolphins got stranded off Houghton Bay on Tuesday.

Her partner Zane Burn, brother Daniel Prowse, and friend Hanna Van der Giessen scrambled down the steep cliff to the pair's rescue, quickly freeing them from the shallows.

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"They were really stressed out when [the rescuers] first got there ... when they realised they weren't bad they calmed down," Prowse said.

During the rescue the dolphins seemed to make eye contact with the rescuers then went out to sea and rejoined their pod.

NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust trustee Liz Slooten applauded the group's actions.

"It is fantastic these people were there. It's great to see that people would actually help these animals out like that."