Chris and I are keen scuba-divers, and while we’re in New Zealand we decided to dive the Poor Knights, in the north of the North Island, as it’s generally rated to be a superb dive location. Well, the ratings are right, how incredible!
Before we got here we contacted Dive Tutukaka and booked a date for diving. They were easy to work with by email, and had great reviews on TripAdvisor. Their rental equipment is good, and they provided us with 7 mm wetsuits, plus 3 mm hooded vests underneath. The water was cold, we needed all that suiting! Apart from our first certification dives in northern California, we’ve mostly dived in tropical or semi-tropical water, and this was certainly a difference!
It’s about an hour long boat ride out to the Poor Knights islands, and it can be rough – take meds if you’re prone to seasickness! Once we reached the islands, we were able to take shelter, and so it was much calmer. Getting our gear on was made really easy with lots of assistance from the crew. We had the choice of diving just in our buddy pair, or having a guide. We chose to go with a guide, as the locals usually know where to find all the interesting things. However if you prefer to dive alone, it doesn’t seem to be too easy to get lost!
There are many different dive sites around the Poor Knights – Riko Riko cave was our first dive. The mosaic of colours of the encrustations on the cave walls was simply stunning!
We came across several Red Scorpionfish, and were delighted to see a few Nudibranchs too 🙂
We were also delighted when Cam our divemaster, pointed out a rare Long-finned Boarfish, gorgeous colours!
During the surface interval, we hung out in the cave, and enjoyed the echoes!
Our second dive was at Middle Arch. Lots of beautiful kelp forest here, more nudis, eels, and a fun air-bubble in an underwater cave 20 feet deep!
Diving at the Poor Knights is an incredible, amazing experience, and we’re thrilled to have done it! If you go, contact Dive Tutukaka!
If you enjoyed this post and our photos, please share with your friends, and consider subscribing to get new posts. It’s free, and we promise to never spam you, or sell your email! Just click below:
2 comments