Is there Decent diving in New Zealand?

[Azza]

There is some nice diving in wellington! You can drop in off the shore or head out on a boat. The thing is this....you need to be fairly competent to dive in Wellington.
Wellington is on the South Coast of the North Island and is situated next to the Cook Straight. The Cook Straight is the only gap in the otherwise 1000 mile long land mass of New Zealand. It's also only 11 Nautical Miles wide so when it is high tide at one end of the straight it is low tide at the other.
This produces awesome currents and conditions.
I would recommend you drop into Splash Gordons dive shop(tell them Azza sent you) and ask them about local diving, where it is safe to shore dive and what you have to look out for etc.

Most of the shore diving is pretty safe and there are some beautiful sites to dive. I miss wellington diving.

Check out some of my earlier blog for some info on diving in Wellington. http://www.mydivinglife.com/Azza

 

[Eric Cartman]

Hey mate!
Thanks for the info! I'm happy to know that we'll be able to dive in Wellington.
This thing about the currents made me a bit scarry tough
I'll definitly look for your friends at Spash Gordons when we get there.
Are you living in Auckland at the moment?
We'll be arriving there by the middle of next month and are planning on renting a Camper Van from Escape Rentals (http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/) and drive to Wellington. Do you think that's a good idea? Also, do you know any decent and not expensive hostel as we're planning to stay in Auckland for - maybe - a week.
How's the weather there at the moment?
Wow, lots of questions... sorry !
Cheers, mate!

 

[Azza]

Hey mate!
Thanks for the info! I'm happy to know that we'll be able to dive in Wellington.
This thing about the currents made me a bit scarry tough
I'll definitly look for your friends at Spash Gordons when we get there.
Are you living in Auckland at the moment?
We'll be arriving there by the middle of next month and are planning on renting a Camper Van from Escape Rentals (http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/) and drive to Wellington. Do you think that's a good idea? Also, do you know any decent and not expensive hostel as we're planning to stay in Auckland for - maybe - a week.
How's the weather there at the moment?
Wow, lots of questions... sorry !
Cheers, mate!

Gday Eric
You will be able to dive to your hearts content in Wellington and don't worry too much about the currents, just ask the guys where NOT to dive and you will be fine.
Wellington has the most divers per head of capita in the whole of New Zealand due to it's easy access. It will take 10-15 minutes to drive from the centre of town to the south coast, and you can shore dive most places along the south coast and it is reasonable to good, in some cases excellent, diving.

Yes I am in auckland so if you want to catch up for a beer, and a dive (I can only dive weekends-but beer anytime ) that would be great. Will see if we can drag a few other scubaboarders out as well.

I think hiring a camper van and driving to wellington is a great move. There is so much beautiful scenery, and cool things to do, between Akl and Wgtn.

As for decent hostel any of them should be fine. I have stayed at a few in akl and they are all good and central.

The weather was awesome up until yesterday when a polar blast just hit us. But its generally sunny and the daytime temps are around 15-17 celcius. It is dropping to 0 sometimes overnight however so bring warm clothes.

The water temp is an unusually cold 13 degrees celcius. Brrr but good viz all around

 

[Packhorse]

Also, my girlfriend is a biologist and she would love to have some experience working on an aquarium. I heard that there are a couple of very nice aquariums in NZ but couldn't find out exactly where they're located.

www.kellytarltons.co.nz is a great aquarium in Auckland. You can even do a shark dive there.
And as others have said there is some great diving in NZ. Forget the campervan, get sum real big tanks and dive your way from Auckland to Wellington!

 

[alijtaylor]

Hey mate!
Thanks for the info! I'm happy to know that we'll be able to dive in Wellington.
This thing about the currents made me a bit scarry tough
I'll definitly look for your friends at Spash Gordons when we get there.
Are you living in Auckland at the moment?
We'll be arriving there by the middle of next month and are planning on renting a Camper Van from Escape Rentals (http://www.escaperentals.co.nz/) and drive to Wellington. Do you think that's a good idea? Also, do you know any decent and not expensive hostel as we're planning to stay in Auckland for - maybe - a week.
How's the weather there at the moment?
Wow, lots of questions... sorry !
Cheers, mate!

Gidday Eric
I have dived most of the readily accessible shore sites around Wellington and if you would like an intro to some of them get in touch when you arrive. Currents off the shore are minimal, surge can be a bit of an issue but you can't beat Wellington on a good day.. On a bad day with a southerly - do something else.

I would have included a shot of one of the wrecks accessible from the shore taken last weekend (to be honest about the only recognisable wreck readily accessible from the shore..) but the gallery is down, 5m deep, 100m off shore - very easy.

Alison

Edit - I see you are due middle of September - I will be in Papua New Guinea then (can't wait) back 10 October.

 

[El Orans]

I would have included a shot of one of the wrecks accessible from the shore taken last weekend (to be honest about the only recognisable wreck readily accessible from the shore..) but the gallery is down, 5m deep, 100m off shore - very easy.

Photobucket is your friend...

 

[Azza]

Also, my girlfriend is a biologist and she would love to have some experience working on an aquarium. I heard that there are a couple of very nice aquariums in NZ but couldn't find out exactly where they're located. Can anybody clarify? Is there some biology-related opportunity near Wellington ?
Cheers, guys!

Eric, there is a marine laboratory about 5 doors down from Splash Gordons on wellingtons south coast. A few of the biologists are members of Splash's dive club. Could be a good thing to join the club

Also, if you can, hook up with Alison for some dives, she knows all the good spots

 

[Eric Cartman]

Do you think there's enough dive-related work in Wellington for a foreigner instructor/videographer to settle down being able to make enought money to pay the bills?
Cheers!

 

[Azza]

Do you think there's enough dive-related work in Wellington for a foreigner instructor/videographer to settle down being able to make enought money to pay the bills?
Cheers!

Probably not. You might make a little beer money tho...