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I am going to NZ for the first time and would like to dive the Poor Knights. Should i take a short liveaboard or are there some good day trips. Any experience will be appreciated
There are good day trips on offer from a number of charter companies based in Tutukaka. There are also two (three?) liveaboard operators as well.
Personally, I think the liveaboard option provides better value (particularly if it's your one and only trip out - plus the chance to do a night dive) but they are harder to organise.
The two main liveaboard operators are Pacific Hideaway (www.divenz.co.nz) and Oceanblue (oceanblue.co.nz). Pacific Hideaway is very popular with the local dive shops as the boat sleeps more people (12) and may be booked out for weekends during the summer already! Try contacting Global Dive in Auckland (www.globaldive.net) who normally book out one or two weekends a month for the whole summer, so that will take a lot of the hassle out of the process. Put in a request for lamb shanks if you go, as Mark the skipper does a killer lamb shank dinner.
Ocean Blue have a smaller boat, and often do 3, 4 & 5 day trips, not just to the Knights but the including other dive sites in the outer Hauraki Gulf and nearby area. Kev and Janine who own OceanBlue will give you a great trip.
On either liveaboard, you could expect do to 7 dives in a weekend.
Charters running day trips include Dive! Tutukaka (www.diving.co.nz), who are very well set up for visiting divers and run a very slick operation. There are others, but I tend to use D!T the most for day trips, though occasionally I use Yukon Charters (www.yukon.co.nz) as Noel the skipper also runs a good trip.
Other charters include Adrenalin Charters, Knight Rider, Poor Knights Divers and Bluzone - you'll find the details if you google them. As I don't really use them, I won't give you an opinion on them, others who do use them may be better situated to do that.
We organise fairly regular trips to the Knights, so if you need a hand organising anything then send me a PM. Let me know when you're coming, if it aligns with any of our trips then you can hop on with us - or if it's a free weekend, we'll just arrange a trip anyway!
I will be flying into Auckland on the and out on the 18th and thats all thats planned so far. I will be going on a three day liveaboard from Carins on the trip too but I still want to dive NZ too.
I only heard about Poor Knights but I would like to hear about other dives too. I am mostly into wreck dives but I also like to se the marine life of different countries.
If you have the time, I'd definitely suggest trying to get to Volkner Rocks - charters go out from both Tauranga (2.5 hrs from Auckland) and Whakatane (4 hrs). We tend to use John Baker (Baker Marine Charters) in Whakatane. I rate Volkner Rocks as the best dive site in the country! You can also throw in a dive or two on White Island on the same trip, diving an active volcano is pretty cool!
Wreck dives we have aplenty - starting from the north, the most accessible and easily dived wrecks are the Rainbow Warrior, HMNZS Canterbury (for both of these, try Northland Dive - diving and staying with Shane & Julia is just like coming home!). There's also HMNZS Tui and HMNZS Waikato just outside of Tutukaka Harbour. If you do a Poor Knights liveaboard you can normally get them to stop and do a dive on one of these on the way out to the islands.
There are a few others, the F69 HMNZS Wellington (in Wellington!) springs to mind. The "must do" of wreck dives, though, is the Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds. She is simply one of the best diveable wrecks in the world! Whether you have time to get down there is a different story, but have a google of these wrecks and if the Lermontov tickles your fancy then I can make some suggestions to get down there and dive it.
The Poor Knights are the most talked about dive site in NZ but by no means the only or in some opinions the best site to dive.
As Andy points out there is the Bay of Islands with Northland dive ( great outfit) and of course the Mikahail Lermontov and the Rainbow Warrior plus a few purpose sunk naval wrecks.
Coromandel also offers great diving with Castle Rock , the Auldermans, Mayor Island, mercury Islands etc etc etc.
Fiordland, Kaikoura etc also offer some great southern diving.
Me and my girlfriend will be diving at the poor knights (22-24 jan)as well. We booked a liveaboard with Ocean Blue. It will be the start of a (hopefully) one year world trip and ofcourse we are looking forward to it!
After the poor knights, we will be in NZ for another 6 weeks, before heading to Australia. I see that some of you have a lot of knowledge regarding NZ diving, so can you give me any tips for the southern island of NZ?
Above I can see that the Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds is a "must do". wich dive center(s) have this "on their menu"??
And does steward island has any good options??
We will be bringing our own gear (except tanks and weights) and diving in colder water won't be a problem since we are usualy diving in the Netherlands with water temperatures between 9-17 °C
Ocean Blue is a good choice, Kev will give you a really good trip!
I don't know much about Stewart Island in terms of diving - expect fairly chilly water, even in January. I think there's some good options for seeing sharks down there.
If you are in for another liveaboard, definitely check out Volkner Rocks and White Island. Personally, I think Volkner Rocks is the best diving in the country. Your best bet for a trip out there is Baker Marine Charters. John is a crusty ol' sea dog who runs a great trip out from Whakatane.
Poor Knights, Volkner Rocks and the Lermontov would be my top three places to aim for - in terms of the Lermontov, probably your best bet for a trip out there would be Go Dive in Picton. I think Brent will run a day trip for four divers - drop them an email and get the word from the horses mouth.
I will be arriving in Auckland the 22nd and plan on diving with Dive Tutukaka for a few days. If you need an extra diver let me know. I will be in Auckland or north of from Nov 22nd - 28th.
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Originally Posted by PeterVV
