Wellington's underwater treasures

As an avid “obsessive-compulsive scuba diver”, Aotearoa is an ideal place to live, with a plethora of exciting dive sites. As a ‘day job’ I am a slave to the New Zealand health system so having hobbies is essential for my sanity. Scuba diving provides the ultimate mindfulness of silence, tranquillity and focus.

Wellington Harbour - Shark Bay

One of the features of Wellington is that there is (almost) always somewhere you can dive. When the southerlies smash the South Coast, Wellington harbour becomes a refuge. Day dives in Wellington harbour are often pretty average, but at night the shallow harbour shore dives come alive.

Pot-bellied seahorses hunt in the weed, southern reef squid dart in the shallows and pipefish are to be found. A highlight of the Wellington winter is definitely chilled -out harbour night dives and the water temperature doesn’t usually drop below 11 degrees.

I’ve listed Shark Bay, but Mahanga Bay with the anemone encrusted mussel farm, Kau Bay with its kelp forests and Burnham Wharf with its numerous nudibranchs are equally as enjoyable.