Niue - Help/Advice Please :)

[divermike1011]

Hi everyone!

My wife and I are interested in traveling too, and diving in Niue. From what I can discover online it seems there is only one dive operation on the island. I am looking for any and all information about Niue from people who either have been there or know a lot about it. I did a search on SB and all I could find were people listing it as a bucket list place to go. Have you been there? Did you dive? How was it? If you were about to be demobilized and looking for a Pacific Island to get away from it all would you pick Niue? Etc. etc.

Thanks in advance for the help

Michael

 

[Heg]

Hi Mike
We are off over there on 5th August for the 5th time. Yes- there is only one dive shop -Niue Dive run by Ian and Annie Gray. Fabulous people and they run a very tight ship. They have three boats and its 4 divers to a boat.
If you want beaches and fine dining and kids clubs -do not go. If you want friendly locals, basic but fresh food and stunning viz, then book now. Oh -and no cellphone reception Heaven.
One flight a week from Auckland with Air NZ. Leaves on a sat and arrives Friday.

We stay at Nic's place (opposite the dive shop) as we prefer to do a bit of self catering. There is only one hotel -The Matavai, which has a pool and a restaurant and bar. Basic but clean and it next door to Niue Dive.
The reefs suffered quite badly in Cyclone Heta but are really starting to regenerate. It's certainly not going to blow you away with soft corals and abundant see life, but the diving is still good. Lots of caves and plenty of sea snakes.

We are going over again primarily to swim with the humpback whales. Awesome experience. It's one of the few places in the world where you are allowed to do so. From what I have heard, it beats Tonga hands down. For a start there will only ever be two boats out there , so a max of 12 snorkelers. To say we got up close and personal is an understatement.

I guess it's a kind of love it or hate it place. We love it. PM me if you want to know anything else.

 

[divermike1011]

Heg:

Thanks so much for the quick reply. Bit slammed with work today/tomorrow, but will send you a PM. THanks again!

Michael

 

[sipadiver]

Hi Mike
We are off over there on 5th August for the 5th time. Yes- there is only one dive shop -Niue Dive run by Ian and Annie Gray. Fabulous people and they run a very tight ship. They have three boats and its 4 divers to a boat.
If you want beaches and fine dining and kids clubs -do not go. If you want friendly locals, basic but fresh food and stunning viz, then book now. Oh -and no cellphone reception Heaven.
One flight a week from Auckland with Air NZ. Leaves on a sat and arrives Friday.

We stay at Nic's place (opposite the dive shop) as we prefer to do a bit of self catering. There is only one hotel -The Matavai, which has a pool and a restaurant and bar. Basic but clean and it next door to Niue Dive.
The reefs suffered quite badly in Cyclone Heta but are really starting to regenerate. It's certainly not going to blow you away with soft corals and abundant see life, but the diving is still good. Lots of caves and plenty of sea snakes.

We are going over again primarily to swim with the humpback whales. Awesome experience. It's one of the few places in the world where you are allowed to do so. From what I have heard, it beats Tonga hands down. For a start there will only ever be two boats out there , so a max of 12 snorkelers. To say we got up close and personal is an understatement.

I'm going to Niue in late September with a friend for a week of scuba diving. Can you recommend good dive locations at Niue?

 

[Heg]

Have you booked your diving yet? If not, get in quick. There is only one Dive shop on the island and the have three boats, so a max of 12 divers. This is peak season as it is also whale season, so they will be very busy. Email niuedive@niue.nu to see if they have room for you.

If your diving is booked, then some good sites are Bubble Cave, Snake Gully, Matavai Bommie.
Cheers
Jo

 

[sipadiver]

Have you booked your diving yet? If not, get in quick. There is only one Dive shop on the island and the have three boats, so a max of 12 divers. This is peak season as it is also whale season, so they will be very busy. Email niuedive@niue.nu to see if they have room for you.

If your diving is booked, then some good sites are Bubble Cave, Snake Gully, Matavai Bommie.
Cheers
Jo

Yes we have booked our flights already, thank you. We are currently looking into finding a dive operator. I didn't know there was only one on the island.

 

[sipadiver]

Have you booked your diving yet? If not, get in quick. There is only one Dive shop on the island and the have three boats, so a max of 12 divers. This is peak season as it is also whale season, so they will be very busy. Email niuedive@niue.nu to see if they have room for you.

If your diving is booked, then some good sites are Bubble Cave, Snake Gully, Matavai Bommie.
Cheers
Jo

Yes we have booked our flights already, thank you. We are currently looking into finding a dive operator. I didn't know there was only one on the island.

 

[Heg]

That's what I meant -Not 'have you booked your flights' but have you booked your dives? We went one year and a couple who just showed up without booking only got one dive in the entire week. Email the dive shop NOW!!!

 

[sipadiver]

Hey Heg, Yeah I'm talking to Annie Grey now and booking our dive trips. We can only do 10 dives during our week stay there due to the limited capacity of the operator. Fair enough. They also operate whale snorkel trips but they cost about NZ$110 per trip. And my friend whose going with me might not be able to afford to go for all. Is it a good choice to do a shore dive or snorkel around the beach area by himself?

 

[Heg]

The whale trips are awesome and worth every penny. It is one of only three places in the world where you are allowed to snorkel with humpbacks and it is a truly amazing experience. There is some good snorkelling around the island. Not sure about shore dives. Not even sure you can do them. Access in and out of the water is limited as there are no beaches as such. Most dives sites are a boat ride out of the harbour.