At the second site soon after getting in the water, I saw Matt holding a 3kg snapper that he shot in mid-water. Great effort! He went on looking successfully  for crays while I devoted myself to a school of blue mao mao, my favourite ceviche ingredient. With every fish I added to my float the school got in a bigger frenzy making getting the next one even easier. An exceptionally tasty and stupid species… But from one second to another, they were all gone and I knew that meant bad news. I could see three bronzies one of which came in a bit too close for comfort. Shouldn’t they be interested in my fish and not me?  Eventually, the boat came and I could stop frantically aiming the business end of my gun at barely visible shapes in the periphery. Some fish went missing but at least they had the decency to leave me some. An exciting day but nothing compared to the Three Kings trip that is ahead.

We are still waiting for a good weather window for this one. It’s a once in a lifetime trip of epicness! Also, we are exploring options for a group trip to the tropics in winter. Talk to me if you are interested! Email spearfishing@akunidive.com

Mazdak Radjainia

Darrell and Linda at Dive HQ Whitianga are looking for one female to share the costs of a room at the Matavai Resort on their dive trip to Niue, 25 June-2 July 2011.

Niue is the largest coral land mass in the world. It is a coral atoll on top of an old underwater volcano which rises out of the depths of the Pacific Ocean. With no streams or rivers on Niue, the rain filters through the porous coral out into the warm Pacific Ocean, completely devoid of any silt runoff. That’s why the visibility in the waters around Niue is some of the best in the world – often up to an incredible 70m!

The diving in Niue is diverse and spectacular, and includes walls, coral gardens, canyons, arches, swim-throughs and caves. Read more about the trip.

The Fish Team of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa has been sampling the deep fish diversity around White Island, an active volcano (New Zealand) in March 2009. Deep sea baited videos have captured fish diversity from 50 to 900m of depth and fish traps have collected specimens from 50 to 1500m. This footage shows a video from a deployment made at a depth of 50m. Find more information about the work of our fish team at http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/fish.

You could get in some practice dives on the Canterbury.

Nearly 800ft long, in less than 40 metres water, she surely is one of the best, if not THE best wreck dive in the southern hemisphere.

The trip is tentatively planned for either July or November, this will depend on how they get the required numbers. The trip is open to all divers, however minimum of Advanced Open Water is recommended. Nitrox will be available. Trimix will be available as well – however only to CCR rebreathers.

Wreck penetration cannot be recommended without a redundant air source and advanced wreck training or similar. Therefore single tank divers will be limited to small penetrations and the outside of the ship. They will have plenty of guides on the trip (Brend, Christian and probably one more), so that even on a single there will be some nice stuff to see in the easier parts of the wreck, just the deep penetrations will be restricted for diver safety. If you are on CCR or twins you can go for it.

Number of divers will be limited to nine. 5 spaces are already filled, so there are 4 spaces left at the moment.

Costs for 5 days diving including accommodation and all airfills, but excluding O2 for nitrox and He/O2 for trimix will be around $950 departing Picton (top of the South Island). Final price to be confirmed when they have numbers as this is a non-profit trip.

Contact Christian on email cblaschke@z-systems.co.nz.
Or see the SODS website.

I’m 30m down in the clear water of the Bay of Islands, swimming through the narrow passageways of HMNZS Canterbury, seeking to exorcise a painful memory. Suddenly, through the underwater gloom, I spy the object of my mission: a row of toilets. Success.

Flashback to 2003, just before my 26th birthday. Sitting in a bar in Invercargill, I read the confusing instructions to a packet of seasick pills and wondered whether to swallow them.

Next morning I’d board the frigate Canterbury to head for the storm-tossed Sub-Antarctic Islands and photograph the Minister of Conservation launching the Auckland Island Marine Reserve and – rather more thrillingly – get the chance to set foot on some of the most remote islands in the world.

Read full article from The New Zealand Herald.

You don’t want to miss the AUUC trip to the Bay of Islands to dive the wreck of the Canterbury on 2 & 3 May 2009. Email Kathryn at secretary@akunidive.com to express your interest.

Northern Arch, one of the dive sites at the Poor Knights Islands.

If you don’t have a car, dive gear, a buddy or even your Dive Certificate, don’t worry! We will sort out carpooling, help you with gear hire and have enough spare buddies to go round! This weekend’s trip is perfect for snorkelling, so bring your friends along.

• 21st and 22nd March
• Come along for a single day or sign up for both
• $85 per day
• Email Kathryn, secretary@akunidive.com for more information

The festival program includes an underwater photography competition (disposable camera and digital camera sections), diving, treasure hunt, scuba olympics and parties. There are loads of prizes up for grabs, including a dive trip for 2 to Vanuatu (which I won at last year’s festival)!

The festival is tonnes of fun and the Botany Bottom Scratchers are sending over a contingent to take part in the celebrations. They’re wondering if anyone from AUUC would be keen in linking up with them. I think they need our young blood to win the scuba olympics! If you’re interested, contact Roger (rog.sil@clear.net.nz) or 027 439 4309. Roger is a sporadic checker of email so a phone call may be worth your while.

Find out more about the Coromandel Dive Festival.

Many people who have learnt to scuba dive in Auckland are familiar with Lake Pupuke, because that’s where they did their open water dives. I hadn’t experienced Pupuke, but having heard the stories from other divers, I was keen to. Kathryn suggested we head out there for a dive, at the same time as a group of club members were doing their PADI Open Water course. Those that have been following my muck diving reports know it takes little to convince me to go diving…and so I found myself at Lake Pupuke at 8:15 on Sunday morning!

I was pleasantly surprised from start to finish. Lake Pupuke was beautiful in the morning light. A couple of guys were unsuccessfully fishing for trout off the end of the pier. Swans, mallards, coots, pukekos and geese paddled or waddled at the water’s edge. It was deliciously calm after days of windy weather.

Having spent the previous evening diving under Leigh Jetty, I was even more surprised to find Lake Pupuke warmer and with better visibility than the sea! Diving there was a great test of neutral buoyancy. If you failed, you were enveloped by silt. If you passed, you could drift effortlessly a foot from the velvety bottom, rewarded by being able to see the environment around you.

A group of around six Perch circled us for a minute, then disappeared. We scouted the environs of Lake Pupuke for about an hour, then headed back to the grass to relax in the sun. It was so nice we didn’t want to leave. What a wonderful way to spend a few hours on a Sunday and a rite of passage for budding scuba divers.

Dive Statistics:
Max depth – 10.7 metres
Visibility – 4 metres
Water temperature – 15°C
Bottom time – 65 minutes
Critter count – About 6 Perch (Perca fluviatilis)

[salbum=58,y,n]

Come muck diving with me

Where: Matheson Bay (near Leigh, north of Auckland)
When: Sunday 19 October 2008
Time: 10:00am
Bring: Dive gear and one tank
Costs: $0…it’s shore diving
Followed by: Fish and chips for lunch in Leigh

See map to Matheson Bay.

Email me on webmaster@akunidive.com if you want to arrange carpooling or dive gear.

Contact Ming at trips@akunidive.com to register your interest. These trips are enormously popular so it is a good idea to get in early and pay to secure your spot. See Ways To Pay.

Learn more about the Poor Knights trip by reading here.

Hope the holidays are going well and you’re all getting a much deserved rest. Next semester has lots of good trips and talks running so check out the website regularly to keep updated with our trips and meetings. In the colder months the diving around New Zealand is great due to the improved water clarity. We have some exciting trips such as the annual Taupo trip and the White Island live aboard coming up.

Verco’s nudibranch (Tambja verconis) at the Poor Knights Islands – by Alison Perkins.

18-20 July – Cowshed Trip

The Bay of Islands is well known for its above water beauty, dolphin watching and the famous ‘Hole in the Rock’. Below the water, it is every bit as stunning. The diving has only improved with the addition of New Zealand’s newest underwater playground, the ex-HMNZS Canterbury, sunk in Deep Water Cove as an artificial reef late in 2007.

We are heading up there at the end of the university holidays.

The Cowshed is one of our most popular destinations. There’s a great atmosphere up there with plenty of awesome diving, socialising and diving banter galore. The diving is practically guaranteed with their proximity to two different coasts, so it’s the perfect destination at this time of the year.

Contact Kathryn at secretary@akunidive.com for more information.

Cameron Russo exiting Sonic Boom Cave near Bigeyes Lair in the Bay of Islands – by Alison Perkins.

23 July – Yucatan Cave Diving Talk

6:00pm Auckland University (room to be advised)

Jamie Obern, the current owner of Dive HQ Greenlane (one of New Zealand’s largest dive stores) will be delivering an exciting tale about diving in the Mexican Yucatan cave systems.

The Yucatan Peninsula is famous for its spectacular limestone formations which extend for hundreds of kilometres underground. The water clarity and the sheer beauty of these caves are breathtaking.

Cave diving in Mexico – photo courtesy of Jamie Obern.

Jamie started diving in 1988 and since then has obtained numerous qualifications including; PADI staff instructor, BSAC advanced Instructor, and cave and trimix diver. Along with this Jamie has also dived around the world in over 20 countries. The UK provided the scene for him to gain experience diving many wrecks. In 2001 this advanced diving lead him into the elite world of cave diving. He has explored these dark and intimidating underwater caverns in NZ, UK, France and Mexico. Jamie is currently training to become NZ’s first GUE (Global Underwater Explorers) Instructor. These guys are the best in the business and are internationally renowned.

The presentation will include:

• Overview of the Yucatan and why to dive there

• Gear requirements

• Training

• Photos and video footage of the cave dives

I would strongly recommend this talk, and anyone is welcome – not just divers! You don’t need to be a technical diver (or have aspirations of being one) to enjoy this!!

The talk will start at 6:30pm but we will be there from 6pm to answer any questions about the dive club.

Hope to see you there, Mike.

treasurer@akunidive.com

2 August – Taupo

It’s that time of the year again, the AUUC annual trip to Taupo is a highlight of the year. Come down for some really cheap diving and get brain-freeze with us as we do some extreme fresh water, altitude diving. Afterwards we do a drift dive down the Waikato river with the remainder of your tank to see some trout and admire the scenery. At the end of the dive there is a hot spring where we can lose the gear and enjoy a few river-chilled beers.

If you survive the party that we have that night you can join a couple of members who drive down to Ruapehu and complete an extreme sports weekend with some skiing/boarding (wetsuit optional).

Contact Ryan at prez@akunidive.com to register interest.

Ming Lam plays with a Koura (freshwater crayfish) in Lake Taupo – by Hayden Lewis.

16-18 August – White Island

The White Island live-a-board is an amazing trip which involves 3 days with John “Tuna” Baker aboard the Ma Cherie. This trip is a favourite of the clubs and offers a chance to visit an amazing dive environment off the shores of an active volcano. The clarity of the water and the abundance of fish life makes this a great trip with the chance to dive with New Zealand fur seals. The island itself is an attraction being the only regularly active volcano in New Zealand. Live-a-boards are the best way to dive and the experienced skipper and boat make this trip very enjoyable.

For more information and to register interest contact Ming at trips@akunidive.com

Elliott Jones holding a Skipjack tuna he caught on the ride back to Whakatane from White Island on Ma Cherie – by Alison Perkins.

30 & 31 August – Poor Knights Islands

We are running 2 day trips (2 dives per day) to the Poor Knights Islands on Pacific Hideaway.

The Poor Knights Islands lie 24 kilometres off the north-east coast of New Zealand and are a fully protected marine reserve. Since being lauded by the late Jacques Cousteau as one of the top 10 dive sites in the world, the Poor Knights have become New Zealand’s most well known diving location.

Flourishing in the protection of the marine reserve, are an abundance of fish. Schooling fish such as Blue maomao, Trevally, Sweep and Demoiselles are common on each dive, interspersed with giant Snapper and some unique tropical immigrants. The warm subtropical current that runs through the islands brings to the area a myriad of species that are seldom seen elsewhere in New Zealand – Spotted black grouper, Mosiac moray and Lord Howe coralfish. An extraordinary array of invertebrate life as well as anemones and sponges adorns the walls.

The Poor Knights Islands are made up of a group of volcanoes which erupted millions of years ago. Their eroded remains leave an interesting underwater geography made up of plummeting cliffs, archways, tunnels and caves.

Mixed school of Trevally and Blue maomao at the Poor Knights Islands – by Alison Perkins.

What you need to bring – Pacific Hideaway

All scuba gear including two tanks. Mark can hire you some gear if you organise it with him prior to the trip.

The cheapest option will be to bring your food for meals. You’ll need a packed lunch and snack food for the boat. Pacific Hideaway has a toaster, kettle, microwave, oven, fridge and equipped kitchen. There is a small shop/deli at the entrance to the marina that sells some food. You can get good meals for decent prices at the fishing club.

There is room for about 10 people to stay overnight on the Pacific Hideaway ($10pp/night). The other accommodation option is the Tutukaka Holiday Park.

Contact Ming at trips@akunidive.com to register interest.