Jacques Cousteau famously rated the Poor Knights as one of the Top 10 dive locations in the world!
Divers have been raving about the best sub-tropical dives ever since.
The Poor Knights has the greatest diversity of underwater habitats and wildlife than any where else in New Zealand. This is due to a combination of nearly vertical underwater cliffs with adjacent deep water and shallow sheltered bays warmed by the East Auckland current. This has introduced a number of subtropical species including the Spotted Black, Toadstool and Gold Ribbon groupers; Lord Howe Island Coral Fish and Banded Coral Shrimp, all of which have become established. Lionfish, Trumpet Fish, and Turtles have also been seen.
The Poor Knights are home to an amazing array of species, many of which we don't see here in Wellington, including moray eels, schools of demoiselles, pink and blue maomao and the weird looking slipper lobster. The walls are covered in a variety of colorful sponges, anemones, soft corals, bryozoans and beautiful nudibranchs; all of these make the Poor Knights an underwater photographers paradise.
Outside the reserve we also have the opportunity to dive the Tui & Waikato wrecks which lie just outside the Tutukaka Harbour in ~30m of water.
With over 60 known dives sites and the variety of bottom topography, from walls, archways, tunnels, caves and shallow gardens you will never get bored diving at the Poor Knights.
March 23rd - 26th 2010
4 Day Liveaboard trip with Pacific Hideaway
$795 includes 10 Dives & Food
Our plan is to leave Wellington on the Sunday and spend the night in Taupo, leaving Monday to drive up to Tutukaka. We will stay that night aboard Pacific Hideaway and head out for the Poor Knights early on the Tuesday morning. After 4 amazing days of diving we will head back home; again breaking the journey along the way and arriving back in Wellington on Sunday (if we wish to dive at Goat Island on the way home)
Travel & other accomodation is extra - last time 2 nights accomodation was $70 & we shared fuel costs.