Question Is Australia and/or New Zealand Worth Diving in February/March?

[living4experiences]

As part of an extended trip in the South Pacific, I will be in Australia and New Zealand in February 2024 on a cruise. Since I'm on that side of the planet, I don't want to miss the opportunity to dive if it's worth it. I have never dived in Australia or New Zealand. I just don't know what the water temps, weather, current, viz conditions are at that time of year or if it's cyclone season and there's a high likelihood of being blown out.

I was scheduled to cage dive with great white sharks in 2020, then rescheduled to 2022, then 2023, in Guadalupe, Mexico, and never got to go. Now the park is closed forever. Is there any Great White Shark cage diving in Australia or New Zealand?

If February is not an ideal month to dive, when would you go? If there are any dive operations you can recommend, that would be great. I'll be able to fly from Auckland or Sydney to any location. I'm free to travel anywhere to get to dive locations. If anyone lives local or has been there in February, I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MB NZ]

I think February, or even better March is the best time to visit New Zealand. It's high summer and the water temperature will be warmest (21-22 degrees C). We get an influx of tropical visitors and you might be very lucky and see a manta or whale shark in the north. Some people say that the visibility is better in winter, I'm not sure that's true. I've always had the suspicion that it's just a way to get people to spend money on dive trips in the off-season.

In the North Island, the Poor Knights is an obvious destination. You will get a flavour from the video link in my signature. I imagine it's like diving in California, although the kelp is less impressive. The base for diving the Poor Knights is Tutukaka. It's a three hour drive north from Auckland. The biggest operator is Dive Tutukaka. They get busy, but have good boats and offer a good service.

Great white shark diving can be done in Bluff at the other end of the country.

 

[clownfishsydney]

Where is your cruise going? Australia is a big country. Or do you mean you are doing a cruise out of Australia to NZ?

 

[diver257a]

Hi living4experiences,

I live in South Australia - I have the following comments.

1. Firstly, there are Australians on Scubaboard.
   
   
2. February is probably OK if you are diving on the coastline of the southern half of the Australia continent and the coastline of Tasmania. I must emphasis that February is a summer month in Australia. The main barrier to diving where I live is windy weather and it can be windy (and cool) in February and other summer months. I agree with MB_NZ's view that March is usually a better month for diving in this part of the world.
   
   
3. Great White Shark cage diving is only offered in South Australia at the Neptune Island Marine Park - there are two service providers - please refer Shark cage diving (in South Australia)
   
   
4. Please note that Australia is a large place where the travel costs are expensive. Therefore, I suggest that you choose carefully and focus on one part of the country to maximise your diving time.
   
   
5. Finally, there are always requests for information about diving in Australia on Subaboard - so please search the site for leads.

 

[living4experiences]

Where is your cruise going? Australia is a big country. Or do you mean you are doing a cruise out of Australia to NZ?

The cruise is round trip from Auckland with stops along the coastline down to Dunedin, cross the Tasman Sea, stopping in Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney. Two days in port in Hobart and Sydney. Post-cruise, I was considering the GBR or Ningaloo, maybe even a liveaboard if that's the only way to get to the good sites.

 

[living4experiences]

Hi living4experiences,

I live in South Australia - I have the following comments.

1. Firstly, there are Australians on Scubaboard.
   
   
2. February is probably OK if you are diving on the coastline of the southern half of the Australia continent and the coastline of Tasmania. I must emphasis that February is a summer month in Australia. The main barrier to diving where I live is windy weather and it can be windy (and cool) in February and other summer months. I agree with MB_NZ's view that March is usually a better month for diving in this part of the world.
   
   
3. Great White Shark cage diving is only offered in South Australia at the Neptune Island Marine Park - there are two service providers - please refer Shark cage diving (in South Australia)
   
   
4. Please note that Australia is a large place where the travel costs are expensive. Therefore, I suggest that you choose carefully and focus on one part of the country to maximise your diving time.
   
   
5. Finally, there are always requests for information about diving in Australia on Subaboard - so please search the site for leads.

Thank you for the tips. I perused SB a little to get some info and I'll keep poking around. Lots of good information, as always, on SB. As mentioned above, I was contemplating the GBR or Ningaloo.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

South Australia dive report

We had a wonderful trip to South Australia in March.

 

[living4experiences]

South Australia dive report

We had a wonderful trip to South Australia in March.

Very nice photos.
What thickness wetsuit did you wear?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

I wore a drysuit. Many in our group wore 5 and 7mm wetsuits. The water temps were in the mid 60s.

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

How experienced are you with cold water diving?

You can't go wrong with Poor Knights and the GBR. As the GBR is off the coast the best way to see it is a 4-5 day liveaboard out of Cairns/Port Douglas. Sydney also has some pleasant local dives.

Ningaloo is famous for whale sharks, but they are typically around later in the year (April-August) and it's a long, long way: that part of Australia is closer to Singapore than to Sydney.

I am a bit different from most here: when I lived in Queensland I would fly south to Tasmania for my diving holidays. I much prefer temperate waters to coral reefs. Happy to organize a dive here in Hobart when you're around: at that time of year waters will be a balmy 16C (60F), on the surface.

Cheers,
Rohan.