LeFlaneur
Contributor
I've been a slacker about posting to Scubaboard but I thought I'd chime in with little report on Diving Poor Knights.
Date: 9 June, 2015
Went with Dive! Tutukaka. Some people here referred to them as a cattle boat. This was certainly not my experience as I was one of only four divers. This may be because it was early winter on a Tuesday, but in any case they were professional, safe, very friendly and shared a lot of knowledge about the area. And I would dive with them again next time. This time of year they may have been the only ones running. Yukon looked closed up.
Surface Conditions: We were blessed with a spectacular day - about 18C/64F, clear skies and very calm.
No currents to speak of but as I understand they can come and go without much predictability at this location. Surge was a minor issue during the safety stop on dive #1 because of topography. Its actually a fun ride if you relax and roll with it.
Water temps were around 16C/61F. I wore a 7mm full plus hooded vest and no gloves and was perfectly comfortable. Below the thermocline at Lake Rawlings is way worse. The crew was quick with a hot drink upon returning to the boat. If the temp is what's worrying you about this dive, put those worries aside.
Viz was about 20 meters - 65 feet or so. Water clarity is good this time of year. The one drawback they don't mention for winter diving is that the sun is at a low angle, so we were diving in shadow almost all the time.
Surprisingly colorful without coral. The rocks are painted all hues of pinks purples, yellows and greens. Demoiselle, sandagers wrasse, moki, lots of eels, stingrays, on the rocks you can find amazing colorful nudibranchs and little fish such as triple fins. The kelp is small and sways like a mini forest of palms. Its the kind of place that requires eye-training and I was glad the DM pointed so much stuff out, because I would have missed a lot.
Dive #1: Tie-Dye Arch. This is a dive on the pinnacles section, apparently only doable if conditional are mild. Max depth was about 60 feet/18 meters. Lovely double arch. I hoped one of the fur seals basking on the rocks nearby would join us but it wasn't to be.
Dive #2: Middle Arch. My favorite of the two. Max depth about 53feet/16meters. Bigger arch with a great field of boulders to explore. This dive was great for nudibranchs. Chance to see some pelagics in one section but other than some large snappers nothing passed by. One cool feature of this dive is entering a small cave (easy exit) and ascending into an air bubble at the top and taking out my reg to breathe about 8 meters below the surface.
I was definitely a bit hesitant to dive in June due to temps and conditions and I'm sure glad I went. Better viz (so they say) and no crowds and only a bit chilly during the SI.
Dive! Tutukaka (and the others, I assume) offer shuttle service from Whangarei, but I stayed at the Quality inn in Tutukaka and thought it was great. Schnappa Rock by the dive shops has good food and drink. I found it worth staying there not to feel rushed but it's not a place to hang out for many days because there's not much to do, or even a town to speak of.
If I had the time I'd have dived another day on Poor Knights.
Date: 9 June, 2015
Went with Dive! Tutukaka. Some people here referred to them as a cattle boat. This was certainly not my experience as I was one of only four divers. This may be because it was early winter on a Tuesday, but in any case they were professional, safe, very friendly and shared a lot of knowledge about the area. And I would dive with them again next time. This time of year they may have been the only ones running. Yukon looked closed up.
Surface Conditions: We were blessed with a spectacular day - about 18C/64F, clear skies and very calm.
No currents to speak of but as I understand they can come and go without much predictability at this location. Surge was a minor issue during the safety stop on dive #1 because of topography. Its actually a fun ride if you relax and roll with it.
Water temps were around 16C/61F. I wore a 7mm full plus hooded vest and no gloves and was perfectly comfortable. Below the thermocline at Lake Rawlings is way worse. The crew was quick with a hot drink upon returning to the boat. If the temp is what's worrying you about this dive, put those worries aside.
Viz was about 20 meters - 65 feet or so. Water clarity is good this time of year. The one drawback they don't mention for winter diving is that the sun is at a low angle, so we were diving in shadow almost all the time.
Surprisingly colorful without coral. The rocks are painted all hues of pinks purples, yellows and greens. Demoiselle, sandagers wrasse, moki, lots of eels, stingrays, on the rocks you can find amazing colorful nudibranchs and little fish such as triple fins. The kelp is small and sways like a mini forest of palms. Its the kind of place that requires eye-training and I was glad the DM pointed so much stuff out, because I would have missed a lot.
Dive #1: Tie-Dye Arch. This is a dive on the pinnacles section, apparently only doable if conditional are mild. Max depth was about 60 feet/18 meters. Lovely double arch. I hoped one of the fur seals basking on the rocks nearby would join us but it wasn't to be.
Dive #2: Middle Arch. My favorite of the two. Max depth about 53feet/16meters. Bigger arch with a great field of boulders to explore. This dive was great for nudibranchs. Chance to see some pelagics in one section but other than some large snappers nothing passed by. One cool feature of this dive is entering a small cave (easy exit) and ascending into an air bubble at the top and taking out my reg to breathe about 8 meters below the surface.
I was definitely a bit hesitant to dive in June due to temps and conditions and I'm sure glad I went. Better viz (so they say) and no crowds and only a bit chilly during the SI.
Dive! Tutukaka (and the others, I assume) offer shuttle service from Whangarei, but I stayed at the Quality inn in Tutukaka and thought it was great. Schnappa Rock by the dive shops has good food and drink. I found it worth staying there not to feel rushed but it's not a place to hang out for many days because there's not much to do, or even a town to speak of.
If I had the time I'd have dived another day on Poor Knights.
