greg somers
Guest
Dive schools are generally operated through the local dive shops. In Whangarei, which is the closest city of 40,000 and is 40min drive from Tutukaka. The 2 main shops are Dive HQ which is in Clyde St. It is Naui & Padi. Good crew. I did my dive master training there. The owner is Dean. He is one of the most experienced divers in the country and is on the NZ dive council, the body that administers all diving in NZ. If you search for 'Dive HQ' it links to all the branches nation wide with contact info. The other main one is also a Padi outfit on Lower Cameron St, but the benefit of using Dive HQ is that they have their own indoor training pool, which gives more flexibility. I personally rate them as the best. The normal dive location, subject to weather, is the Poor Knights and you get to do your open water training dives there.
All of them have hire gear. Training locally is a great idea. The conditions change all the time and if you learn to dive here, you get lots of variety in your training. It's about $500 NZD for the open water training and it includes the dives to the Knights and the hire of gear. That was what it was last time I was there.
I did my Padi IDC with Dive HQ Auckland and thsy are another great bunch with their own pool as well.
There are dive shops in all the cities and plenty of choices. You just need to plan your trip. If you dive below the upper half of the North Island. you will need to upgrade your wetsuit from a 5mm to a 7mm or a dry suit. Dry suits will cost from $1600 - 2000 and I don't know if they are hirable. Above, you can use a 5mm with booties, gloves and hood during winter and drop the hood in summer. Depends on the water temp.
Email me if you want any help.
Cheers
Gasman
All of them have hire gear. Training locally is a great idea. The conditions change all the time and if you learn to dive here, you get lots of variety in your training. It's about $500 NZD for the open water training and it includes the dives to the Knights and the hire of gear. That was what it was last time I was there.
I did my Padi IDC with Dive HQ Auckland and thsy are another great bunch with their own pool as well.
There are dive shops in all the cities and plenty of choices. You just need to plan your trip. If you dive below the upper half of the North Island. you will need to upgrade your wetsuit from a 5mm to a 7mm or a dry suit. Dry suits will cost from $1600 - 2000 and I don't know if they are hirable. Above, you can use a 5mm with booties, gloves and hood during winter and drop the hood in summer. Depends on the water temp.
Email me if you want any help.
Cheers
Gasman