North Island Diving

[scuba kbell]

Hello,

In March I'm going to be in New Zealand for an extended 5 or 6 day connection before continuing to Fiji. Since I'm traveling from the east coast of the US and not sure when I'll be back, I was thinking about doing a 1 day trip to the Poor Knights. We want to also travel to the glow worm caves and Rotorua, so trying to figure out if we can reasonably fit everything in. We want to see the best North Island has to offer but only have a short amount of time. What kind of diving can we expect at Poor Knights in March? Is it anything like diving Julian Rocks off Byron Bay, NSW? What kind of wetsuit would be recommended? We are mostly warm water divers, and have only done a few cold water dives, so I was wondering how advanced the diving is too. Does anyone have a dive shop they recommend if we decide to dive? Thanks!

 

[NZ Don]

Hey there. You'll love the Poor Knights - ranked in the top 10 best sub tropical dives in the world. Being a NZ'der, I've done them several times and they are spectacular. Definitely dive with Yukon Dive if you can. Smaller, more intimate and diving tailored to your comfort and experience level. You can dive with Dive Tutukaka, which is a large operator with multiple boats, and while they are a good outfit too, they are known more as being 'cattle boats' - lots of people, less personal etc. Wetsuit should probably be a 7/5mm semi-dry (can be hired). If you are Advanced Open Water, there's not much you can't do out at the Poor Knights. Dive profiles from 15m - 30m+ depending on your experience. The marine life is incredibly abundant as its part of a marine reserve. Riko Riko cave is pretty cool, and normally visited at lunch/interval time. Its the largest sea cave in the world and the acoustics are amazing. There are a number of air bubbles in some of the arches which are amazing. Definitely some of NZ's best diving. IF you had time, check out Northland Dive as well. They are a dive lodge, run 2 boats, very personal, and you can dive the HMNZS Canterbury which is a great (and very easy) wreck dive. I dive with them at least half a dozen times a season. You'll need to make judgement calls on how much time you have for the activities you want to fit it, but you'd be crazy to visit NZ without diving at least a couple of days Let me know if you need to know anything else Cheers and happy diving, Don

 

[scuba kbell]

Thank you for the detailed response! We decided that we will be able to spend 1 day diving at the Poor Knights. Do you also have any recommendations for non-diving activities in that area? Is goat island also worth a visit?

 

[lermontov]

Thank you for the detailed response! We decided that we will be able to spend 1 day diving at the Poor Knights. Do you also have any recommendations for non-diving activities in that area? Is goat island also worth a visit?

goat island is pretty good and easy access snorkelling is also an option
pity you aren't coming to the south island much more scenic

 

[JoJo Armani]

Hey there. You'll love the Poor Knights - ranked in the top 10 best sub tropical dives in the world. Being a NZ'der, I've done them several times and they are spectacular. Definitely dive with Yukon Dive if you can. Smaller, more intimate and diving tailored to your comfort and experience level. You can dive with Dive Tutukaka, which is a large operator with multiple boats, and while they are a good outfit too, they are known more as being 'cattle boats' - lots of people, less personal etc. Wetsuit should probably be a 7/5mm semi-dry (can be hired). If you are Advanced Open Water, there's not much you can't do out at the Poor Knights. Dive profiles from 15m - 30m+ depending on your experience. The marine life is incredibly abundant as its part of a marine reserve. Riko Riko cave is pretty cool, and normally visited at lunch/interval time. Its the largest sea cave in the world and the acoustics are amazing. There are a number of air bubbles in some of the arches which are amazing. Definitely some of NZ's best diving. IF you had time, check out Northland Dive as well. They are a dive lodge, run 2 boats, very personal, and you can dive the HMNZS Canterbury which is a great (and very easy) wreck dive. I dive with them at least half a dozen times a season. You'll need to make judgement calls on how much time you have for the activities you want to fit it, but you'd be crazy to visit NZ without diving at least a couple of days Let me know if you need to know anything else Cheers and happy diving, Don

Does any place around here offer liveaboards or are the dive sites generally easy to get to and from in one day?

 

[NZ Don]

There are liveaboards available but if you're limited to one day, then you're still ok as it's around an hour out and an hour back from tutukaka marina which still allows for a couple of great dives.