We headed out on a fairly pleasant morning and arrived at The Canyons for the first dive. A nice cruisy dive marked by a distinct warm current coming through the gap - at least 2 degrees warmer according to Kent. Next we hung onto Landing Bay Pinnacle for the next dive. Some stayed opn the pinnacle while Andy and Paul headed into Taravana Cave for an adventure. Good vis and plenty of fish combined with 18 degree water was like paradise for the Wellingtonians. The evening was spent in Maroro Bay, where the wind died off and left if like a mill-pond. A late afternoon dive became a quasi night dive and we settled in for dinner and a swift beer before retireing for the evening.

Next morning we decided on Northern Arch for the first dive. Even from the surface it was obvious that there were heaps of fish in the archway. The team descended into the fishyness. Everyone's dive time was at least an hour and Ali - on her 500th dive - spent about 100 mins hanging in the arch. Near the bottom she was buzzed a few times by a Bronzie checking her out:

They all enjoyed it so much that we made the decision to stay put for dive 2 and go for another long dive after breakfast. This they did with the rebreather guys encountering huge schools of fish out at the point. Sometimes staying put for two dives does work and everyone enjoyed the second dive as much as the first. With the storms looming and wind building we headed back to Tutukaka and had a late lunch on arrival before the divers made their way back to Auckland and onwards.

The summer 'season' may now be over for another year, but winter diving has great vis, more shark sightings and is still warmer than most of the country gets in summer!! With our great winter rates it's a fantastic time to dive The Poor Knights.