Dive! Tutukaka

With the protection of the Tutukaka harbour and local marine reserve, this site is looking to regenerate after years of harvesting by local seafood hunters. Surveyed in 2023, the lack of crayfish caused locals to close down the local area to shellfish harvesting.

5 minutes from the main road that leads to Tutukaka you can find the bays. 4m to 8m can easily be found from the northern end. 10m can be found if heading around the rocks. Kayak diving is a great tool here.

The HMNZS Waikato is 113.4m long, 12.5m beam and a draft of 5.5m she was the first of the Leander class frigates built for the NZ navy in 1966. Decommissioned in 1988 and sunk in late 2000. The HMNZS Waikato rests in two pieces leaning on it’s side in water 28m deep

30 minutes from Dive Now, Whangarei is this fantastic shore dive. Average depth of 5m with a max of 12m at the mouth of the bay. Fingers of encrusted reef run along the edge of the bay, with pockets of rocky reef scattered throughout the bay.

Accessible when there is little to no swell. Enter this narrow channel situated down a short hill from the road and navigate past the shallow rocks before entering the 7m deep Gut and enjouy the colourful wall on the right. Keep swimming and you will emerge onto a 5m sandy area that is scattered with rock reef.

Only accessible on calm days, Sugarloaf is an almost vertical pinnacle, dropping to 90 metres. With one small ledge at 18 metres and a pinnacle that breaks the surface at low tide offering a great place for safety stops. Large schools of fish inhabit the area and gannets call the top home.