Goat Island in October

[Dermochelys]

My trip to New Zealand is coming together. I already have 2 days of diving out to the Poor Knight Islands with Dive! Tutukaka booked. Looking at where I'll be when, it looks like I might have a chance to squeeze in a shore dive at Goat Island when I drive between Matakana and Tutukaka.

Quick questions.....
1) It looks like the day I could do a dive at Goat Island (Oct 12) would be the first day of the season for a guided shore dive with Goat Island Dive and Snorkel. Is there a good chance of bad conditions in October there? The website says the shore dives are shallow, so I'm assuming the chance of bad conditions scrapping a dive would be higher because of that.

2) It looks like the guided shore dive is at 1:00 PM. If I'm driving between Matakana and Tutukaka on the same day, would fitting in a dive be a good idea? I figured with gear set-up and take down, maybe leave Goat Island at around 4:00 PM, putting me in to Tutukaka by 7:00? Does that sound about right?

3) How is Goat Island for diving? I prefer shallow dives where I can spend the most time looking at fishes and other critters, so it seems like a good fit for me, but I'm wondering if entry / exits are difficult or if viz is usually bad, that sort of thing.

Thanks in advance for any pointers!

 

[Tom_Ivan]

Unless your incredibly unlucky with the direction of the swell, you'll be diving in shallow water protected by the island so don't worry too much about weather.

It's a very easy dive site! Just a few stairs down to the beach. Usually no waves at all.

Visibility is hit and miss. Just cross your fingers for a good day.

I'd call goat island an average dive site but worth doing if your draving past anyway.

 

[MB NZ]

I have seen it rough at Goat Island. In fact, the one time I turned up there with dive gear! Sea conditions are unpredictable in every season, so hard to know what it will be like, but most likely OK or better. I assume you have researched water temperatures? It won't be warm.

 

[Dermochelys]

Thanks for the info! Yep, I'm used to cold water diving, so no worries there.

 

[MB NZ]

Don't hold me to it, but I could take you for a dive at the Hen & Chicks, weather, work and woman dependent (a lot of things to line up). Do you have your own kit and would you be willing to dive solo? Buddy could be arranged, but another factor to line up.

 

[Dermochelys]

I just wanted to post an update here, I've booked a guided shore dive with Goat Island Dive during my trip. It looks like a great site and I'm really looking forward to diving there!

 

[Dermochelys]

My dive at Goat Island is coming up this Saturday, October 12. I know the weather hasn't been great lately, can any locals give any insights on what conditions might be like based on the forecast?

I'm also the only person signed up for the guided dive through Goat Island Dive and Snorkel and they require 2 people for the tour. I really hope one more person signs up this week!

 

[Dermochelys]

I just wanted to report back on my dive at Goat Island on Oct. 12.

I went on a guided dive with Goat Island Dive and Snorkel. Luckily, one more person did sign up at the last minute, though the shop did say I could pay for the 2nd required diver if needed to make it a "private" dive, which I really appreciated, but luckily that wasn't necessary.

Speaking of the shop itself, the staff were wonderful and I would highly recommend them. The rental gear was pretty good, though the bungee strap on one of the fins was really tired and needed to be replaced. But at the end of the day it worked.

Conditions were pretty perfect. Basically no swell and a good 10m viz. We saw huge snapper, an eagle ray, tons of goatfish and many other species.

This being my first dive in 8 years I really appreciated that it was an easy shallow dive. I think as a dive site it's perfect of newbies or people who like to just take it easy and see more aquatic life vs. doing anything "tech". Max depth was only 9m.

If I were rating the guide, I would have to give her 4/5 stars. I only say this because she was a very young and a newly minted instructor, and it showed a bit. For example, I let her know that I like going very slow underwater, and that I was diving for the first time in 8 years so that I'd be sticking to her like glue. The other diver wanted to try and find octopus. So she had 2 divers who basically wanted to go slow, checking nooks and crannies. But she had a dive plan in mind to go all the way out the Sponge Gardens, which ended up being quite a swim. The other diver sort of got left in the dust underwater, and while I wasn't panting or anything, I did constantly have to try to keep up with the guide. I think as a new guide / instructor she'll learn to listen to the wants of the divers on the day, not just set an arbitrary goal for herself. Also, we ended up doing a long surface swim back (600 ft?), and with her and the other diving being much faster, I was about 400 ft. separated from them by the time they hit the beach since I'm so slow. Again, I think a dive guide should stick with the guests in case anything bad happens, and she left me in the dust more than I was comfortable with. I did mention this to the senior staff when I got back to the shop, so hopefully she can take this as a learning experience to slow down a bit.

I'm probably sounding much more negative than I mean to be. The guide was very nice and I would absolutely dive with her and with that shop again, and would 100% recommend Goat Island Dive and Snorkel...I'm probably just being a bit too nit picky. At the end of the day I had a ton of fun and it was a great experience!!

Anyway, thanks again to this group for all the great info. See my other post for my Poor Knights dive report!