Dive! Tutukaka is New Zealand’s premier full-service dive charter operator, servicing the Poor Knights Islands; “the best sub-tropical diving in the world”. Dive! Tutukaka delivers a total experience.
Our Poor Knights wonderland
Twenty three kilometres off New Zealand’s Tutukaka Coast and washed by warm currents swept South from the Coral Sea, the Poor Knights Islands are an international icon.
A total Marine Reserve and Nature Reserve - and pending World Heritage Site - the 11 million year old Islands’ volcanic origins provide myriad spectacular drop offs, walls, caves, arches and tunnels.
Above and below water, the Islands are abundantly populated with unique and incredibly varied plant, animal and fish life. Laying claim to an astounding Maori history and the world’s largest sea cave (and only living dinosaur and largest insect) the remarkable Poor Knights thoroughly deserve their protected status.
Biodiversity
Converging warm water currents, a micro -climate and thousands of years of separation from the mainland have resulted in a unique biodiversity below and above the water line.
Below the water, and stretching out a nearly a kilometre all around, the Poor Knights Islands are total Marine Reserve. Above, the Islands themselves are a designated Nature Reserve.
The complex underwater landscape is a unique environment. Subtropical and temperate marine life coexist with extraordinary diversity, beauty and density. Over 125 species of fish share this environment with soft corals, encrusting sponges, vibrant anemones, ecklonia kelp forests, mating sting rays, gorgonian fans and myriad other life forms.
A dive at the Poor Knights is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, very different to diving coral reefs or even the nearby New Zealand coast.
Above the tide line the Islands and the small stacks scattered around them are equally impressive, especially in the spring when they are tinged red by masses of flowering pohutukawa. Isolated from the mainland for many thousands of years, the Islands are the remnants of ancient volcanoes that erupted in the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. In places the remaining cliffs leap a shear 100m from the wave-tops and plunge an equal depths below. On the few ridges and valleys between these and lesser cliffs, a unique blend of plants, animals and insects have evolved and thrived, safe from mainland predators.
The Dive! Story
Dive! Tutukaka was founded in 1999 by two diving friends with a love for the sea.
Aussie Malcolm and Jeroen Jongejan are charismatic entrepreneurs, passionate about diving. Their focused vision then – to be the best dive operator in New Zealand - holds true today.
Specialising in diving the Poor Knights Islands – “the best sub-tropical diving in the world” – Dive! Tutukaka is now New Zealand’s premier full-service dive charter operator.
Renowned for our friendly and professional crews, Dive! Tutukaka operates 364 days a year. Our home base, the Poor Knight Dive Centre, supplies air fills, dive equipment retail sales and hire. Dive! Tutukaka blends the visual drama of Poor Knights with our passionate people and delivers you a total diving experience.
Our Boats
Dive! Tutukaka has the largest dedicated dive charter fleet in New Zealand, available for day trips and private charter. Designed for diving, our vessels are licensed and fitted with safety and oxygen equipment. With five boats to choose from, we can cater for groups from ten to 26 divers.
All Dive! skippers, and crew, are fully qualified, Emergency First Response trained, certified and compliant with all regulations.
All our boats have a galley with unlimited complimentary tea, coffee, milo and soup. We’ve got hot showers, marine toilets, plenty of seats and ample dry stowage, plus fresh water and rinse facilities for gear and cameras. The Dive! vessels are all covered in and equipped with Marine and Diving First Aid Kits and oxygen. Tutukaka to the Poor Knights is a 23 km open ocean trip.
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