HAUTURU ISLAND

Whangamata
Depth Range: 5-18m
Small schools of kahawai and mackerel offshore plus kingfish in summer. Mainly spotties around the kelp. Best with no swell and offshore or light winds. Visibility often poor after heavy rain. A few, usually small, crayfish under the kelp in the niches and holes.

TE WHATIPU ROCKS

Whangamata
Depth: 5-20m
Red moki, leatherjackets and spotties most common. Best with no swell and offshore or light winds. Some current away from reef. Often small schools of kahawai and mackerel and kingfish in summer. Small crayfish amongst the jumbled rocks. Some nice patches of sponge and anemones and nudibranchs below 15 metres.

PATUHAMO POINT

Whangamata
Depth Range: 5-15m
Best with no swell and offshore or light winds. Visibility often poor after heavy rain. Small patches of reef with kina and mussels in the shallows. Red moki, spotties and banded wrasse most common. Occasional crayfish in the cracks and under rocks and occasionally small beds of scallops on the sand.

THE CENTRE HOLE

Whangamata
Depth Range: 25-35m
Only diveable with light or no wind. Some current. Usually lots of school fish above with kahawai, blue maomao, demoiselles, snapper, tarakihi and butterfly perch. Red and painted moki and numerous wrasses amongst the rocks. Nice sponge gardens for macro photography at 30 metres and a few scattered crayfish.

DOGGER BANK

Whangamata
Depth Range: 16-30m
Some colourful patches with nudibranchs on the deeper rocks and plenty of reef fish. Only diveable with light or no wind. Occasional current. Very large reef with kelp cover. Watch for nylon fishing line. Often nests of crayfish under the larger boulders and in the cracks. Schools of kahawai and mackerel often overhead with kingfish in summer.

MANAIA WRECK

Off Slipper Island
Depth Range: 0-15m
Nudibranchs include gold-lined, Wellington, clown and apricot varieties. Exposed to easterly swells and strong winds. Still quite a few bits of the ship scattered around the boulders and kelp. Plenty of juvenile fish including blue maomao, sweep and spotties.

WATCHMAN ROCK

Off Slipper Island
Depth Range: 0-20m
The shaded sides of the reefs have a profusion of sponges, anemones and ascidians. Good place for at least six species of nudibranch. Exposed to northerly swells and strong winds. Some current. Nice patch of reef with quite a few crayfish and yellow and grey moray eels.

TEN-METRE PINNACLE

Off Slipper Island
Depth Range: 0-20m
Nudibranchs amongst the sponges on the wall. Plentiful reef fish. Exposed to northerly and easterly swells and strong winds. Some current. Beware of fishing line in kelp. Nice crayfish holes and cracks. Schools of blue maomao, mackerel and trevally around the top of the pinnacle and a few kingfish in summer.

NORTH SHOE ISLAND

Shoe Island, Tairua
Depth Range: 20-30m
Blue maomao and butterfly perch and numerous red moki. Some good macro photography subjects on the lower wall. Best with no swell and light wind. A few kingfish in the kahawai and mackerel schools in summer. Nice invertebrate wall with yellow moray eels sharing the holes with crayfish.

PUMPKIN REEF

Tairua, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 0-20m
Spotties, wrasses, red moki and leatherjackets plus the occasional snapper. Clown and variable nudibranchs for the macro photographer. Best dived with no swell and offshore or light wind. Patches of rocky reef with kina barrens in the shallows and kelp forest below 6 metres.

GOLF BALL

Tairua, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 0-20m
Often large stingrays on the sand in summer. Best with no swell or wind off the sea.  Kelp-covered rocky reef with occasional crayfish underneath. Reef fish life is mainly spotties, red moki and banded wrasse but a few snapper and leatherjackets. Some colourful rock faces near the sand with sponges, anemones and nudibranchs.

ORCA BAY

The Alderman Islands
Depth Range: 20-30m
Black angelfish, red moki and a few wrasses are among the abundant reef fish life. Colourful anemones under some shaded boulders. Exposed to north east wind and swell. Nice patch of reef with thick kelp forest. A few crayfish under the boulders plus yellow moray and conger eels.

MACGREGOR'S REEF

The Alderman Islands
Depth Range: 10-20m
Sponges, anemones, ascidians and hydroids on the wall. A few large crayfish in the cracks. Exposed to swells and strong winds. Reasonable strong current. Kingfish common in summer in schools of pelagics. Plenty of reef fish including porcupine fish amongst the kelp.

STINGRAY ROCK

The Alderman Islands
Depth Range: 8-35m
A few crayfish in the cracks. Stingrays swarm around in early summer. Very exposed to swells and any strong wind. Some current. Nice wall with plenty of fish life. Kingfish and kahawai in summer. Schools of blue maomao and butterfly perch on the walls. Sponges and other invertebrate life on the deeper part of the wall.

CASTLE ISLAND

Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 0-40m+
In clear water during summer this dive is exceptional. Exposed on most winds and swells. Slopes off to 50 metres with a couple of bubble caves on northwest side. Some crayfish. Butterfly perch, splendid perch, golden snapper, moki, pink maomao plus large schools of kingfish, kahawai, trevally, mackerel and stingrays.

HEREHERETAURA PINNACLE

Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 5-22m
Best for macro photography at the lower end of the wall amongst the sponges. Exposed to easterly swells and strong winds. Some current. Steep colourful walls with a few cracks but only the occasional crayfish. Red moki, marblefish, black angelfish and many others.

SOUTH SUNK ROCK

Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 0-30m
Easily the best dive in the area. Exposed to strong winds and swell from south and east. Large anemone-covered green lipped mussels, swim-throughs and crevices, fan sponges and a 20 metre drop off. Abundant big marble fish, hiwihiwi, red moki, leatherjackets and silver drummer. Large schools of  kingfish and mackerel in the summer. Some large crayfish in the holes.

GEMSTONE BAY

Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 5-8m
A series of buoys with photographs to help identify the marine life. This bay is sheltered from most winds.  Large boulders with seaweed dropping to white sand where huge snapper and crayfish are abundant. Also a number of blue cod which are great to photograph as they are exceptionally friendly. Stingrays and eagle rays are common in the summer.

TOWER ROCK

Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 5-18m
Open to strong wind and easterly swells. A few kahawai and kingfish in summer and yellow moray eels, moki, leatherjackets and John dory on the broken reef.  A few crayfish to look at under the rocks and nudibranchs to photograph. Occasional pufferfish amongst the kelp forest.

MOTUMANGA

Mercury Bay, Coromandel Peninsula
Depth Range: 5-25m
Very exposed to strong winds. Occasional kingfish in summer. The reef drops steeply on to sand with cracks and crevices for crayfish but they are usually small and hard to find. Plenty of reef fish and some nudibranchs and sea shells amongst the sponges and anemones on the wall.