NIWA predicts a dryer than usual summer - great for fishing and diving.
Summer is rapidly looming, with just a couple of false starts. The Niwa forecast for the coming months is for a dryer than usual summer. If you're a farmer that's probably not such good news, but for getting out on the water and fishing and diving it's what we all hope for.
The snapper season has started well with plenty of good fish being caught out on the middle ground. Soft baiting is really coming into its own with the fish feeding a lot more aggressively. The kingfish are back in the bay with some nice fish being caught out on the middle ground and Cape Brett. It's lots of fun on a soft bait set.
The diving at the moment is improving every week. The water temperature is climbing up to 18 degrees and we are seeing a lot of salps out at Cape Brett. These are oceanic plankton that get brought into the coast by the East Auckland Current. We also get tropical fish like Yellow Banded Perch and Toadstool Grouper and occasionally the odd turtle brought south by this current.
Summer is a great time of year for learning to dive. We run Padi Open Water Courses every week through the summer months. Starting on Mondays and Thursdays and running for four days this is a great way to get into diving. If you are already certified the wrecks are amazing for doing your next level certification. The Advanced Course can be done in a couple of days and certifies you to 30metres.
It's also a great way to meet people from all over the world with international travellers often choosing the Bay of Islands over other parts of the world to learn to dive. New Zealand is very reasonably priced compared to Europe and our marine areas offering amazing fish life. Besides which, our water conditions are certainly not as challenging as the North Sea!
Diving isn't just for adults either. We offer a summer activity for the kids called Mini Dippers classes. This is a two-day programme designed to get your child comfortable with all the basics of snorkeling. There are fun classroom sessions and pool sessions, with the option of a third day out at Roberton Island snorkeling in the lagoon. It's a great way to teach children personal confidence and confidence in and on the water. We plan to run these throughout the month of January. Please contact Paihia Dive for details.