Scuba diving in New Zealand offers something for everyone. New Zealand has literally hundreds of scuba diving sites with over 15,000 km of coast line and numerous lakes and rivers. Many of these sites are world class.

Coastal waters teem with colourful, fascinating sea life and the usually clear waters make for excellent viewing. The country abounds with sub-tropical reefs, wrecks, clear water springs and alpine fiords. If you are looking for a rich variety of scuba diving experiences then it’s time you were diving NZ. So come with us on a diving tour around the country, taking in the choicest dive spots. The tour begins in the balmy subtropical bays and reefs of Northland and moves on to the famed Poor Knights Islands and the Hauraki Gulf. From there we traverse the east and west coasts of the North and South Islands, touching on aspects like water clarity, temperature and marine life. Also shipwrecks, caves, arches, water depth and access. The tour will conclude in the chilly Southern Ocean waters around Stewart Island and Fiordland, where spectacular steep cliff diving includes shallow water surprises like black coral and groper.

Sea conditions are at their best in summer and autumn (January-June), when the weather is settled, underwater visibility is good and marine life is abundant. Lying exactly halfway between the equator and the South Pole, the water and weather in New Zealand are both temperate – benign even. Below, there’s a crazy mixed-up muddled-up marine life world where coral reef crinoids exist with forests of kelp, and volcanic rock formations are covered with hard corals and seafans.

One of the most unique New Zealand dive sites is the crystal-clear waters of the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve. With its incredible range of fish, including many tropical species, it was considered by the late Jacques Cousteau to be one of the world’s top diving locations. But there is more to scuba diving in New Zealand than just the Poor Knights. Among the other great diving areas are the sheltered Bay of Islands, the dramatic fiords of Fiordland, and Stewart Island with its breathtaking kelp forests and huge paua (abalone). Many easily accessible wrecks off the New Zealand coast also provide special diving opportunities, as do the great variety of fresh water dives. New Zealand waters are among the few virgin wonders left in diving today. The wealth and density of marine life is exhilarating.

The Bay of Islands’ first artificial reef was ‘born’ when the former Navy frigate F421, HMNZS Canterbury, was scuttled in Deep Water Cove. The hull has since become a popular feature of the Northland Dive Trail, which consists of a string of wrecks from Tutukaka to Matauri Bay, and continues to have beneficial social and economic consequences for the region. As a reef, it has helped boost flagging inshore fish stocks.

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Scuba diving in the Coromandel

The Rainbow Warrior was Greenpeace’s flagship on its way to protest France’s nuclear testing on the Mururoa Atoll when it was sunk by French saboteurs on July 10, 1985, in Auckland Harbour. Three years after the bombing Greenpeace gifted the Warrior to the sea and she now lies as an artificial reef in the Cavalli Island’s, a refuge for the marine life she was trying to protect.

  Global Dive is a PADI Resort member and trains PADI, TDI and SDI courses in New Zealand. Why not learn to dive or advance your skills while you are in New Zealand, then make the most of our exciting New Zealand dive sites. There is a fascinating new underwater world waiting to be explored where the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea wash onto New Zealand’s shores. Dive training is available through dive shops in most main centres. Enjoy your travels around the New Zealand coastline. The fascinating undersea blue/green universe is full of surprises.