Freediving in New Zealand

[ryan99]

I'm going to be in Wellington for 3 weeks in October, and Kaikoura for part of that. Anyone know of any freediving in those areas? I know there's swimming with dolphins and seals in Kaikoura and intend to do that, but was wondering if there are any other options?

cheers
ryan

 

[Chris_C_NZ]

Bloody loads of options for both! Watch out for sea lions down kaikoura way.

Dave Mullins will be able to sort you out, he's based that way.

 

[Mullins]

Are you a spearo Ryan, or are you just keen on doing some freediving? If the former, there are plenty of folk here in Wellington you can hook up with for a dive. If you aren't so keen on slaughtering your way through our oceans we can still help out with scenic & fishy spots, though Wellington is a bit limited as far as pure depth goes. Most shore dives are 0-20m and while there's very deep water out a bit further, there are big currents throughout the region.

Wellington is still a bit cold and green too in October, but it will be starting to pick up and if you're really lucky you might get blue water (20m vis) on the west coast. That's usually a November/December thing though.

 

[ryan99]

Cheers Dave. I'm a total spearing novice, though hoping to get out with some spearos in north Wales next weekend. So yeah, I was looking for some depth generally, but would defo be interested in meeting some spearos in Wellington anyway to get to know some spots. My brother lives there and is looking at starting spearing.

So cheers for getting back to me, will drop you a line when i know what dates we'll be around.

cheers
ryan

 

[Narsil]

If the weather isn't great, or if you want a bit of an evening splash in a pool, contact the local Wellington freediving club: Lazy Seals Freediving Club | New Zealand's only freediving club

Enjoy your visit,
Guy

 

[ryan99]

cheers Guy

 

[ryan99]

I've spent a few days this last week diving for scallops and mussels in the marlborough sounds, was great. do any of you know of any shore diving spots round wellington that are good for scallops?

cheers
ryan

 

[sirdharma]

Hi all,

I don't know if reviving this thread is the right thing to do but I figured I'll give it a shot.

My partner and I will be coming to New Zealand for 12 months in 2013 and I was wondering where I could find information regarding diving spots (mainly interested in shore dives as we will be on a tight budget).

I am not sure whether or not I should take my freediving gear with me as we are going to be living in a van during that whole period. I am trying to find out if there are enough diving locations around to make it worth taking it when space will be an issue.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers,
François