{"id":576,"date":"2020-04-15T23:34:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T23:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/?p=576"},"modified":"2020-04-15T23:34:24","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T23:34:24","slug":"the-poor-knights-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/the-poor-knights-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"The Poor Knights Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Poor Knights Islands boasts one of the most diverse marine ecosystems this planet has to offer, right\u00a0here, on New Zealand\u2019s back doorstep! This collection of islands sits 12 Nautical miles (23km) north east of\u00a0the Tutukaka coastline. With only a 2.5-hour drive north of Auckland, it’s very accessible for anyone who\u00a0wants to see what these islands have to offer. There\u2019s no wonder Jacques Cousteau named this place\u00a0number 7 on his list of best dive locations in the world.<\/p>\n

These islands are now a strict marine and nature reserve to ensure its longevity. Without mankind allowed\u00a0to capitalise on the biodiversity of the Poor Knights, these islands have been allowed to flourish and grow\u00a0into some of the most diverse ecosystems you will see. This makes for some of the best diving in the\u00a0world.<\/p>\n

The Poor Knights\u2019 Islands are over 11 Million years old and the remains of a now- extinct volcano. Due to\u00a0the land\u2019s Volcanic origins, there are an abundance of caves, archways, walls, tunnels and unique rock\u00a0formations that differ from anywhere else in the country. Studies show that its unique rock formations aren\u2019t\u00a0due to sea erosion as many once thought, but due to volcanic eruptions causing caverns etc where gas\u00a0once was. How else do you explain Riko Riko cave (the world\u2019s\u00a0largest sea cave) to have an entirely smooth ceiling?\u00a0\"\" There is no\u00a0way that sea erosion could form such a clean surface. When\u00a0visiting the islands, you will also see abundance of life above the\u00a0water. The island is home to hundreds of species of birds, giant\u00a0Weta and Tuatara. The most impressive time to view this bucket\u00a0list destination, is in the summertime. The islands transform into\u00a0an impressive red, layered in New Zealand\u2019s most iconic tree, the\u00a0Pohutukawa. Known as the NZ Christmas Tree, it is an\u00a0extraordinary sight, said to have reminded Captain Cook of his\u00a0Jam on top of his \u201cPoor Knights Pudding\u201d (hence a theory on the islands name).<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the islands weren\u2019t always this magical landscape. Prior to Pakeha arrival in New Zealand,\u00a0the islands were the home to Maori. First inhabited by the Ngatitoki tribe in the 18 th Century, the islands\u00a0were home to as many as 400 People, living self sufficiently with no fresh water source. They lived\u00a0peacefully until their chief Tatua left to join a battle on the mainland. Chief Waikato caught wind that the\u00a0islands were laying unprotected. He proceeded to gather warriors and started the 320km journey by Waka\u00a0to the islands. They approached during the night and sadly many of the island locals did not survive.\u00a0When Tatua returned to the islands, he was so horrified by the scenes that greeted him, he gathered the\u00a0few remaining survivors and left the Poor Knights for Rawhitit in the Bay of Islands, never to return. Since\u00a0their departure, the islands were then declared strictly Tapu (sacred) and have remained uninhabited ever\u00a0since.<\/p>\n

The Poor knights lie directly on the edge of the continental shelf are met\u00a0by the currents of the South Coral Sea (North East of Australia), The\u00a0water flowing from the depths of the continental shelf, met with the\u00a0northern currents ensures the water is warm, blue, clear and FULL of\u00a0nutrients. This is what makes the islands marine life flourish beyond\u00a0anywhere else in NZ.\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

The knights are home to more than 125 species of fish, thousands of\u00a0invertebrates and many other marine wonders.<\/p>\n

Due to the layout of the islands, with its many archways, coves and\u00a0hidden nooks and crannies. It has become the prime place for many\u00a0species to reproduce. The sheltered areas provide a safe place for\u00a0young to grow without the threat of an exposed environment. For\u00a0species such as stingray, the walls of the archways allow them to mate whilst the rock walls block the\u00a0sensory tools of predators such as Orca, ensuring them a safe place to repopulate.<\/p>\n

Many of the life that \u201chitch hikes\u201d its way to the poor knights on the\u00a0northern currents often stay, as its conditions are more than favourable.\u00a0\u00a0This means that the poor knights are one of the only places in NZ that\u00a0STILL growing in biodiversity every year. It may be hard to believe due to\u00a0the fact this place is already so extraordinary, but the Poor Knights\u00a0Islands are only getting better!\u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

Other Species catch the currents down to the knights in the summertime\u00a0and early March. They feed on the nutrients and many micro organisms\u00a0that provide them with a rich food source. Unfortunately, even though the\u00a0water is warm, it isn\u2019t warm enough! Therefore, we only get certain\u00a0species visiting for a brief moment at certain times of the year. Some\u00a0regular visitors consist of Humpback whales, turtles and Manta rays. We\u00a0have had sightings almost every year around the same time. The knights\u00a0also get one off visitors such as whale sharks! Unfortunately, though, they\u00a0aren\u2019t as regular of a visitor as others.<\/p>\n

The Poor Knights has over 50 Dive sites! The diving opportunities\u00a0around these islands are endless. You have the option of shallow\u00a0dives with extensive fish life, deep technical diving along a wall full of\u00a0delicate invertebrates or diving in Rikoriko cave with a whale skeleton!<\/p>\n

If you are interested in cave\/cavern diving, the poor knights have over\u00a025 caves accessible to divers. \"\"I have been fortunate enough to dive a\u00a0handful of them. These are some of the best cave dives.<\/p>\n

Northern Arch:<\/strong> If you enjoy deep diving and big fish, then this is the\u00a0dive site for you. Northern arch most definitely qualifies as a deep\u00a0dive, the archway is practically bottomless! The recreational limit in NZ\u00a0is 40m. In that 40m, I can promise you that you won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\n

Even though the archway is narrow, it jampacks an immense amount of life into its narrow walls. If you dive\u00a0this site during late February and March, you will most likely find yourself sharing the arch with at least 20\u00a0stingrays during mating. Throughout your dive, you will discover schools of Blue and Pink Maomao,\u00a0scorpion fish, hundreds of invertebrates, snapper and many different types of damsel fish, just to name a\u00a0few. If you look below you into the deep, don\u2019t be alarmed if you see a shape the resembles a shark, it will\u00a0be the huge kingfish swimming through the arch! Partway in the arch there is a drop off, if you a brave\u00a0enough to head below it, you might be lucky enough to spot one of the rare golden trevally. Once you head\u00a0out of the arch and to the point you are often greeted by huge crayfish, more stingray and if you are in the\u00a0water early or late, be prepared to get a passing hello from a Bronze Whaler Shark! This arch way is my\u00a0personal favourite as it crams everything you could want from the Poor Knights into one EPIC dive.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

Middle Arch:<\/strong> One of the coolest\u00a0dive sites the Poor Knights has to offer. Middle Arch is another\u00a0impressive dive site, suitable to all experience level. The\u00a0bottom of the arch sits at around 16m, however the bay out\u00a0from the arch, drops to an insane 80m! Therefore, you need\u00a0good buoyancy control in order to dive this location. On the\u00a0south side of the arch, to the right you have very interesting\u00a0wall dive, often home to loads of male Black Angel fish\u00a0designated to protect their eggs laid along the wall. If you take\u00a0the time to look closely at the edges of the arch, you will see\u00a0the walls littered with nudibranchs. Once looking in the arch itself, head on off to the left and you will find\u00a0Bernie\u2019s cave. In this cave, the fish swim upside down on the ceiling and there is an air bubble big enough\u00a0to fit at least 5 people in. You can inflate your BCD, talk to each other and your computer still reads that\u00a0you\u2019re at a depth of 9 metres. This is a unique dive site that can host all levels of divers. One of my
\npersonal favourite and is even better on a night dive.<\/p>\n

Blue Maomao Cave:<\/strong> If you are a diver that enjoy underwater photography then Blue maomao is a must.\u00a0With its cave like structures, thousands of blue Maomao and spectacular light beams coming from holes in\u00a0the ceiling, it makes for some amazing photography. On the far side of the arch you often find stingray,\u00a0octopus and many more species of fish. Inside the cave, you a strictly given the privilege of a sea of blue\u00a0(and no, its not the ocean I\u2019m talking about). The Maomao often move around in a ball like formation, and\u00a0you will find yourself with hundreds of them circling you.\u00a0\"\"This dive is special as it is quite rare to get such a\u00a0large number of one species in concentrated place. The lack of other species in this cave allows you to fully\u00a0immerse yourself in the blue Maomao and really appreciate this fish, considering it\u2019s a fish most people\u00a0overlook. With the cave only being around 8-10m deep, people often free dive to the cave. Due to its\u00a0shallow depth, your no stop time in increased massively. Therefore, you can spend an enormous amount of\u00a0time studying the fish and getting the perfect angle for that amazing photo.<\/p>\n

Blue\u00a0Maomao\u00a0Archway, Poor\u00a0Knights Islands.\u00a0New Zealand\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

After spending your day doing impressive wall dives, you can come to Blue Maomao arch and have a\u00a0relaxing shallow cave dive that is still promised to be a dive you won\u2019t forget. Sometimes the best dive\u00a0spots aren\u2019t always the most challenging or technically difficult. I think Blue Maomao speaks volumes for\u00a0that statement.
\nLucky last, we have another amazing dive site. The Cream Gardens, this dive site isn\u2019t one of the most\u00a0well-known sites but is equally impressive. The starts is in a secluded bay. Head through the kelp forests\u00a0and find yourself on the right-hand side of a great wall. The dive appears to be very mediocre to begin, but\u00a0if you push yourself that bit further, everything opens up. The great wall holds hundreds of sponges, flora\u00a0and unique marine life. I have a great appreciation of this dive as it is one that forces you to slow down and\u00a0really look closely at the wall. The more you look, the more you find. It is truly spectacular. This is another\u00a0fantastic dive site for photographers as the array of colours among the flora is truly spectacular. There is\u00a0also no doubt that a wall of Gorgonian Sea Fans makes for a great photo! This wall dive heads along to the\u00a0point, dropping down to 60m where you will be met by Bronze Whaler sharks and Groups of large kingfish.\u00a0It is a great dive if you are wanting to expand your diving to an area that wouldn\u2019t normally entice you. After\u00a0all that\u2019s what diving is all about isn\u2019t it? Exploring new parts of the ocean?<\/p>\n

This article is merely a pea-sized taster of what this extraordinary group of islands has to offer. With daily\u00a0charters, liver boards etc there is absolutely nothing holding you back from going. It is beyond rare to find a\u00a0group of islands, so diverse in their habitats both above and below water. Let alone one that is given the\u00a0highest protection status in the country, has diving and snorkelling for all levels. And is only getting\u00a0better!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grab some friends and spend your summers exploring this exceptional place we Kiwi\u2019s, are so privileged to\u00a0call ours.\u00a0\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Poor Knights Islands boasts one of the most diverse marine ecosystems this planet has to offer, right\u00a0here, on New Zealand\u2019s back doorstep! This collection of islands sits 12 Nautical miles (23km) north east of\u00a0the Tutukaka coastline. With only a 2.5-hour drive north of Auckland, it’s very accessible for anyone who\u00a0wants to see what these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions\/594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/divehq.co.nz\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}