New Zealand - Bay of Island

[chocolate]

Hi,

I just pass my first diving test recently and am planning on a family vacation to New Zealand. And I could fit in a day of diving into my schedule.

It seems to me that Bay of Island is a popular place. However, since this is the first time I'm going to be there, I'm wondering if any of you could offer anyhelp in my planning. For instance, what kind of day trips are offered? Where could I join them? Cost?

Also, would it be a good idea to bring my own equipment (I have suit & mask) or shall I rent them?

Also, what could my family could do to kill time while I go diving?

Thanks in advance. Any other suggestions/advise on other issues would be mostly appreciated.


Choco

 

[watersprite]

Hi chocolate,

I dove the Rainbow Warrior wreck at the Bay of Islands, almost 2 years ago. It's awesome! I would definitely check it out if you're there! It's quite a nice wreck. Do bring plenty of lights to check out the coloured bottom!

I believe I paid about NZ$ 160 for two dives. The first dive was to the wreck, the second was in the area (so not at the wreck again!). The wreck is located at a depth of 25 or 26 metres or something.

I was still only "OW" certified at that time. The first deep/wreck dive counted as "deep dive" as part of my OW Advanced course. I am not sure if it cost that much and if I paid for the extra "deep dive" instruction.
I think I did get a discount because I travelled on a backpacker party bus. I'm sure some websites on the web will give you more accurate info on prices.

I dove with Paihia Dive but I didn't have a good experience with an instructor there while doing these two dives. I would say, ask other people about their experiences with them! Who knows I was just having some bad, bad luck...

As far as your family is concerned: there are some beaches that are quite nice if the weather is nice too! Many people go on boat trips there, you can also swim with the dolphins (if you're lucky and there in the right season I guess!) and I believe you can do parasailing too.

I'm sure you and your family won't be bored there though... it's a beautiful area! Have fun!

watersprite

 

[Valwood1]

We stayed a couple of days in Paihia (with a day trip to Russell) in October, but didn't dive there. It's about as laid back as most of NZ, and there's a reasonable amount of sight-seeing available. There are numerous non-diving nautical adventures in Bay of Islands, but we didn't partake of them.

I did a 2 tank boat dive with Dive Tutukaka (see its website for better info) in Tutukaka, to the Poor Knights Islands; Tutukaka is on the east coast, maybe an hour-and-a-half/two hour drive south of Paihia. The dive trip was about 8:30-4, and is a 45 minute boat ride. I believe that the cost was about $100US, including equipment rental (reg, wetsuit, but not BC). You'll need at least a 5 mil suit, and probably a 7 mil (I used the latter in October), and gloves and a hood would be a good idea. I thought that the diving was great.

My best advice on NZ is to take it easy, and don't plan on getting anywhere very fast. Four lane roads pretty well end a bit north of Auckland. The main west coast road through the Kauri forests is particularly winding and very slow to drive.

Oh, as silly as it sounds, (1) Sheepworld (on the main road north if Auckland) is worth a stop -- the show starts at 11am, I think, and is great fun, and (2) try to see the Hundertwasser public toilets in kawakawa.

Several Kiwis post on the board, so one of them probably has more informed info.

Bill

 

[Blom]

Yeah, if you are anywhere near that area, the Poor Knights is definately worth the visit - highly recommended!

You could easily spend a long time there (if you had it available).

As for what the rest of the family can do, there isn't a whole lot in the Tutukaka area itself as far as I'm aware, but you could probably contact the shop you'll dive with in advance and they'll know the area better (I've only dopped in and out for dive purposes).

Dive Tutukaka is the biggest operation by far, with 4 fairly good sized charter boats and plenty of hire gear etc. I've heard good and bad stories about them, but you'd be hard pressed to find an operation bad enough to make it not worth diving the Knights!

If they'll let you choose sites, Blue Mao Mao Arch (from memory) is a brilliant dive!

Here's the Dive Tutukaka site as a starting point

http://www.diving.co.nz/poorknights.htm

 

[El Orans]

Blom once bubbled...
Yeah, if you are anywhere near that area, the Poor Knights is definately worth the visit - highly recommended!

Dive Tutukaka is the biggest operation by far, with 4 fairly good sized charter boats and plenty of hire gear etc. I've heard good and bad stories about them, but you'd be hard pressed to find an operation bad enough to make it not worth diving the Knights!

If they'll let you choose sites, Blue Mao Mao Arch (from memory) is a brilliant dive!

I will be diving with them mid january. First day to the Poor Knights, second day to visit the Tui and the Waikato.
Looking forward very much to a lot better visibility than what I'm used to in Dutch waters.

 

[greg somers]

I will be diving with them mid january. First day to the Poor Knights, second day to visit the Tui and the Waikato.
Looking forward very much to a lot better visibility than what I'm used to in Dutch waters.

Some good advice here. The region is my backyard and I am at the disposal of any of you that need helpful advice. Sheepworld..hahahaha. I have driven past that place sooo many times and never gone in, but having lived on a farm and sheared sheep, it sorta has lost it's appeal to me, but good on ya Bill.
Paihia Dive is the recommended dive op to use to see the Rainbow Warrior and the local Far North dive sites, but the locals don't do the Bay of Island thing as much as the tourists. Get over to Russell though. Beautiful. I did my IDC with some of them and they have some top people. The thing to remember about NZ is that you will be using 5mm wetsuits and the water is still a little cool at the moment, so you will need a hood and gloves as well. Both Paihia Dive and Dive Tutukaka have an extensive hire range of everything and prices are reasonable. But if you are more used to a warmer environment, then the extra weights needed and the confinement of the wetsuit will take a little getting used to. Dive Tuts use Instructors only on their boats. 'Cool Hand' Luke or Simon is usually on the largest boat, the 'El Tigre'.
The great thing about the Knights is that I have never had a bad dive there. There is always a sheltered spot with heaps to see. Actually you will catch heaps of stingrays at this time of year, because it is "LOVE SEASON" at the holiday inn as the Knights is a major breeding station over Jan-Feb. It'll be cool.
Blue Mao Mao arch is great. The Blue Mao Mao is an irridescent blue schooling pelagic fish that schools in great amounts, and if you get them swirling around you in their predetorial response and the light is right, the view is breath-taking. Get a Camera!!!!!!
Other great sites are Riko Riko cave, The Gardens, Middle & Northern Arch, Red Baron Caves, Tye Dye arch. There are literally hundreds of different sites. All of them special and spectacular. All the boat have soup and hot drinks on board, but you will need to bring your lunch. The wreck dives are usually done on a 1 dive trip to either wreck. The Waikato's bow broke off in a storm soon after sinking, but is a great dive.
Tank rental is $20 and generally a trip out to the Knights is $90-95.
It's 12kms out to the islands so if you are prone to being seasick, then get some motion sickness tablets. All the pharmacies carry stuff like that.
You get a whole range of customers on board, so buddying up is not an issue.
Email me at greg.somers@visy.com.au if you guys have any extra questions or if you want a dive buddy. Another great spot is Leigh, which is also a sanctuary like the Knights and Auckland University have their Marine Biology Unit their. (And it's near Sheepworld,Bill.....)
Whangarei is the major city in Northland and if you can, their are great beach dives around the harbour and the heads. Their are 4 diveshops in the region and it is only 40 mins drive from Tutukaka.

Cheers Big Ears,
The one and only,
Gasman

 

[DocVikingo]

You have responded to a post that is now about 6 weeks old. Might want to PM the poster directly to make them aware of your contribution.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[El Orans]

is when I'll be diving the Poor Knights. Will post my experiences afterwards.

 

[El Orans]

Wow,

for the first time I have enjoyed visibility of more than 20 meters. Usually I'm happy with 4 or 5 meters.

On 10-01-2004 my wife and I did 2 dives on the Poor Knights with Dive! Tutukaka. Our boat was the El Tigre with Luke, Ben and Natasha doing a great job as our crew/instructors.

On our first dive, we visited Brady's Corner / Meditation Wall. Excellent visibility. We were warned that this would be "cold water diving", but since all our previous dives were in the Netherlands, this felt pretty warm to us.

Lots and lots of fishes around. Even though my wife wasn't feeling too comfortable beforehand about going below 15 meters, once we dove in there was no problem whatsoever.

For our second dive, we stayed in the same bay going to Trevor's Rocks / El Torito Cave. This time we brought a (cheap) camera along that still gave us some pretty nice pictures.

We had planned to dive the HMNZS Waikato and HMNZS Tui the day after. But due to high tide, the marker buoys for the Tui could not be found so we had to content ourselves with diving the Waikato twice.

The first dive was a bit of a challenge, not having done a wreck dive before.
Nerves and a mask that kept flooding continously ensured that the dive was a lot shorter than I had hoped for. Also, a slight current made the dive quite challenging for me. All in all, when we had descended to 27 meters I had already used 80 bar of my airsupply of 200 bar. So, after only 10 minutes at the bottom I had to go up again.

The second dive (with a different non-flooding mask) was a lot better. Even so when we were back on the boat my buddy still had 100 bar left while I was down to 35 bar. Nevertheless, it was a great dive even though my consumption rate definitely needs a lot of improvement.

We will definitely be back there for some additional diving when we have a few days and dollars to spare (won't be anytime soon, unfortunately).