Northland Putahataha Island

DESCRIPTION

Site Review by Tyler Gorton & Anna Clague
Photos by Andrew Simpson & Simon Collins

At the northern side of the entrance to Deep Water Cove – the home of the Canterbury Wreck - is an island called Putahataha Island. This small island offers a range different dive environments from shallow plateaus to walls to caverns. This variety of dive topography offers habitats to a host of different fish including friendly Scorpionfish, Red Moki, Leatherjackets and Wrasses who follow divers around the site often coming within arm’s reach, frequently with inquisitive friendliness.

The southern side of the island is where you will find a shallow wall dropping down to a sandy plateau at between 10m – 16m. The wall comes down from the surface in a series of rocky steps before it levels off into a sand, boulder and kelp covered bottom with loads of fish and invertebrates. Keeping the island on your right shoulder will lead you around to a deeper drop off near the northern side of the island.

On the northern side of Putahataha Island there is a tall cavern which contains hundreds and hundreds of the nocturnal Bigeyes swarming around in small holes waiting for night to emerge and feed on plankton. The cavern stretches from 18m deep to 10m from the surface and is about 4m wide, allowing ample room for multiple divers to search and explore the crevices.

Around the island it is possible to see schooling Koheru numbering in the thousands which often swarm around divers in the shallows. There are hundreds of Black Spiney Urchins dotted around the island at varying depths and in the winter months Diademas can also be found in the shallower waters. All in all, this site has a variety of interesting landscapes making it worth coming back and diving again and again.