general travel advice sought

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xrcjdx

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Messages
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Location
coral triangle
# of dives
500 - 999
greetings. i will be arriving in nz early february, likely into aukland, renting a car, and making my way to nelson and back over 3 weeks, with maybe 5 days - a week in nelson visiting a friend.

i presume 2 - 3 weeks on the road is barely sufficient time to get a feel for new zealand, and allow flexibility to make a substantial detour in time and/or distance to dive? my wife is a non-diver, but loves the water just the same. (this really isn't a diving holiday, but i'm sure she will understand squeezing a few in!) i can bring basic kit, but plan to rent a wet suit (i own only a 3 mm) and fins (easier to rent than lug around). as for diving ability, i will pass number 400 sometime between now and then. i'm not necessarily interested in beginner friendly suggestions. that said, my diving experience is all tropical so this will all be new to me.

we are reading up and excited about making the trip, but hoping to trust to local knowledge as well. anyone care to suggest a loose/flexible itinerary suggestion for faraway visitors?
 
chnge of plan. we will arrive, rent a car, and depart from christchurch. anything to do on the south island?
 
Yes, but probably too hard to fit into your itinerary (fiords) or difficult (wreck of Mikhail Lemontov). North of North Island much better access to diving.
 
I'd agree, with the above, you could park up some where nice near Bay of Islands where your wife can enjoy sun and water and you dive the Rainbow Warrior and/or the Poor Knights Islands.
 
Check out Kaikoura. Its about 2.5 hours north of Christchurch and has some really nice diving. Just moved to Christchurch and have not found any great dive spots locally. Also check out Akaroa which is about 1.5 hr from the city.
 
my honest suggestion to you guys.-Fly into Christchurch. Do your visiting thing then catch a flight to Auckland. from there do the Poor knights as a one day/2 tank dive.Then back to Auckland and fly home next day. --yep don't get me wrong theres plenty of diving elsewhere but if I could only dive one day then it would be the Knights
 
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