Poor Knights Islands Dive Spots
Northern Arch
This is a verticle slot 37 – 44 metres deep at the shallowest point. This is an excellent dive more suited to the advanced diver. Schools of blue maomao and trevally can be seen schooling on the surface and we often see magnificant kingfish speeding past. The archway is generally teeming with fish like pink maomao, trevally, and demoiselles around the 12 – 25m depth range. Mado and porae can often be seen deeper and sightings of some less common species such as long-finned boar fish and splendid perch are not uncommon. Flights of stingrays sometimes patrol the arch from 10m down. The wall to the north of the arch is a great place to do our safety stop with colourful sponges, anemones, moray eels, and i can generally find a crayfish in a crevice to observe. Only experienced deep divers should contemplate diving right to the bottom. Beware, outside the arch the bottom drops rapidly away past 60m.
Middle Arch
This is a very popular dive. Inside the archway the depth ranges from 10 – 16 metres and fish life is normally abundant. There is a good assortment of wrasses and school fish as well as stingrays. A pair of lord howe coralfish seems to have taken up residence here and other rarer fish such as the yellow-banded perch can occasionally be seen. The south side of the reef tumbles down to the sand at around 40 metres and several species of moray eels can be found. This is a great dive for all levels of experience and we generally do not dive below 20 metres.
Bernie’s Cave
This cave is adjacent to middle arch. There is an air-bubble at the back of the cave where you can “surface” at a depth of 6 metres and say “hi” to your buddy. Porae can often be seen sleeping on the sandy bottom. There is a brilliant display of anemones above the mouth of the cave at about 6 metres – great for photographers.
Landing Bay Pinnacle
This pinnacle comes up from 45metres to within 5metres of the surface. A good dive for anyone with reasonable buoyancy control. Pick your depth and follow the pinnacle back up to the top. On the seaward side several deeper pinnacles come up as far as 20 and 30 metres. For experienced divers these are great places to find some deeper water invertebrates including firebrick starfish and the spectacular diadema sea urchin.
The Giant Staircase
The giant staircase tumbles away from the southern point of landing bay and is an excellent dive.
Nursery Cove
This is a popular lunchtime mooring which is a shallow but interesting area for both snorklers and novice scuba divers. The resident fishes are very tame. Nearly all the new zealand species of labids are found here including banded parrotfish, green parrotfish, orange parrotfish, sandager’s parrotfish, combfish, crimson cleanerfish and red pigfish. At the entrance to the cove a large anchor and chain can be found. Off the southern point of nursery cove is the area known as the labyrinth. This be can swum to from the cove and there is also an underwater archway to swim through.
The Gardens – Sandager Reef
This area is prolific with members of the labid family of fishes. The sand garden is an excellent area for shallow diving and fish portraiture. The fish are very friendly and you will be embarrased by hundreds of fish vying for their photos to be taken. All manner of creatures can be found at this site if you know where to look amongst the weeds – from crayfish to the intimidating speckled moray and the unmistakable toadstool groper.
El Torito Cave
Nearby to the gardens are several caves and tunnels, which have been eroded into the island, including the impressive dome of the el torito cave. This is a great snorkel dive.
Riko Riko Cave
Rikoriko cave is a very large and spectacular sea cave and the area outside hold excellent spots for novice scuba divers. The boulder bottom is interesting and the sides of the cave harbour many low light level invertebrates. The acoustics in the cave are amazing and have to be heard to be believed.
Blue Mao Mao Arch
This is a shallow arch, which abounds with blue maomao. It is like diving in a cathederal. The bottom drops to 15 metres towards the east end and free swimming yellow morays are sometimes encountered while the more timid grey morays will normally remain hiding among the rocks. On certain tides the maomao are so abundant in the arch that you cannot see the other divers! On the outside of the arch take a close look at the boulders – dozens of tiny brightly coloured blennies sit out on the rock surfaces and flit away when disturbed.
Fred’s Pinnacle
Another pinnacle rising out of the depths to within 10 metres of the surface. Pink maomao tend to school here and it is one of the best spots for pelagics such as kingfish.
Tie Dye Arch
This fantastic dive is situated at the pinnacles, some 8kms from the main poor knights group. It is very exposed and is only accessible in flat, calm conditions. The name derives from the colourful patterns of sponges and anemones on the walls of the arch. Stingrays are common here and sometimes dozens of them cruise the area. There is some very interesting topography here with a brilliant profusion of fish life. The depth close in to the arch is no deeper than 20 metres, so it is suitable for all levels of experience. The arch harbours a wide range of fish species and lord howe island coral fish can usually be found at the cave’s mouth inside the seaward entrance. The area around the arch is prolific with fishes, as is action channel, the pass between the two pinnacles.
Barren Arch
Barren arch belies its name, which was intended to discourage divers. In fact it is a very rich area. The inner faces of the archway are thick with invertebrates. The bottom of the archway is of medium depth. It is a pleasant spot with clouds of demoiselles, pink and blue maomao and the occasional snapper passing through. Giant salp are seen here between november and february.
