Freedive Aotearoa

★★★★★ HMNZS Canterbury (Wreck)

The HMNZS Canterbury was decommissioned at the end of March 2005 and was scuttled on 3 November 2007 at Deep Water Cove in the Bay of Islands, making for a great artificial reef wreck dive.

★★★★★ Rainbow Warrior

10 minutes by boat from Matuari Bay at GPS co-ordinates are: 34º58.50’ S, 173º56.10’ E in the Cavalli Islands at 26m on the sand sits the ex Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior. Now a stunning artificial reef.

★★★★★ Northern Arch

Northern Arch is a renowned site that often has large pelagic species and current. The Arch is deep and bottoms out at over 36m, there is interesting structure on either side of the Arch and the Northern side of the Arch keeps sloping away down to 50m+.

★★★★★ Middle Arch

Middle Arch is one of the best sites for diving at the Poor Knights. The Arch bottoms out at 18m and slopes down to 30m+ on both the North and South ends of the Arch. There is also an interesting cave with an air pocket near the Southwestern entrance to the Arch.

★★★★☆ Magic Wall

A very colourful wall dive. A short distance from Blue Mao Mao Arch on the opposite side of the Labrid Channel and in good conditions with no current, both sites could be seen on the same dive for divers good on their gas consumption and navigation. The walls maximum depth is around 20m.

★★★★★ Ngaio Rock

Ngaio Rock is a small rock that rises from sand at over 20m. The walls of the rock are steep and are covered in life. It is worthwhile circumnavigating the rock to properly explore the site!

★★★★★ Blue MaoMao Arch

Blue Maomao Arch is known as one of the best dive sites in New Zealand, and possibly the world. The arch is best dived later in the day with the afternoon sun illuminating the site. The Arch itself is at most 15m deep, however, the depth drops to 20m+ at the eastern end.

★★★★☆ Maomao Arch

This arch takes a diver from the western side of the island to the eastern side. Walls outside the arch reach depth of 30m, while the inside of the arch shallows up to just 5m. On the eastern side to the right there is a group of large boulders and a small cave at around 20m.

★★★★★ Landing Bay Pinnacle & Teravana Cave

Pinnacle sea mount that attracts lots off fish life. Pinnacle rises to a depth of around 5 meters, but dives to 40+ meters can be made here. Dive site is better for advanced and expert divers.

★★★★★ Putahataha Island

Rocky kelpy reef in 10m of water on the inward side of the island leads out to 18-25m towards the seawards side as one circumnavigates the island. An underwater cavern is a main feature of this dive, approximately 5m wide at the entrance.

★★★★☆ Oculina Point

Should be renamed Leopard Anemone Point! The bay has a bouldery – kelpy bottom which gradually slopes down from about 10m heading down to 60metres for those ith the training.

★★★★☆ Motuwheteke Island

With the option to dive either the western or eastern side, Motuwheke Island is a rocky reef dive. Kelp covered boulders can be found on the western side where depths from 15-25m, with greater depths of 25m to 45m on the eastern side.

★★★★☆ White Reef

A wonderful dive site for beginner divers and snorkelers. Named for the white rock it is made of, White Reef has made a substantial recovery within the protection of the Rahui, from Kina barren white rock to an almost fully covered healthy reef.

★★★★☆ The Sisters

The Sisters form a stand-alone rock off Cape Brett. The rock splits in two to form a narrow canyon at 10m. On the seaward side of the canyon, the rock drops off to 40m or more to boulders, while the inland side goes to 30m. There can be strong current at this dive site.

★★★★☆ Cathedral Cave

Cathedral Cave is a large sea cave which is open at the surface. The walls of the cave drop to 30m at the entrance, with depths up to 55m further out. There are a great variety of creatures found here.