Northland Home Point

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Dive Site Review by Anna Clague
Photos by Anna Clague and Andrew Simpson

This is a great dive site accessed by boat launching from Bland Bay in the Bay of Islands. Fantastically sheltered from weather coming at you from the North / West or a combination thereof.

There is an above water arm of rock that stretches itself out from the northern end of Bland Bay. At the very tip of this is Home Point. From the surface you can see big guts heading back into the rock, and gullies weaving in and out of the rock creating little islands along the wall, which would be fantastic for snorkelers as well as divers.

Underwater you get more of the same on a much larger scale. Big fingers of rock create gullies wide enough for a convoy of divers to explore through, topped of with piles of Eklonia Kelp harbouring a myriad of fish life including Leather Jackets, Red Moki, Snapper, Wrasses, Demoiselles, Butterfish, Porae and all manner of Triplefins and Blennies.

Covering over the rocks are the usual Sponges and low growing Corals, Hydroids and Bryozoans – home to all types of Nudibranchs. Nibbling away at the base of the kelp are Kina and Black Spiny Urchins. Check them out for the tiny Urchin Clingfish that inhabit these guys. Also worth looking a bit closer for is the chance of finding an Octopus. These guys are the best hide and seek players you will ever come up against so look really really closely!

The reef levels off at about 25m to the sand and you can get all layers of depths in between as you head back up toward the wall. Be aware of boat traffic as there are a lot of boats rounding this corner heading into and out of Bland Bay. A Surface Marker Buoy is worth deploying even if you have a boat displaying a flag waiting for you.