A local's guide to Cape Brett's best underwater dive sites

Paihia Dive's Craig Johnston guides us through the very best dive sites on the world famous Cape Brett Peninsula and the Hole in the Rock.

August 18, 2022

Cape Brett is region almost defines by it steep walls and cool swim throughs

Cape Brett on the north–east side of the Bay of Islands hosts a myriad of diving opportunities. For a start there’s the Rahui at Deep Water Cove and the excellent HMNZS Canterbury which are the typical go-to sites for most dive operators and recreational divers not looking to hunt.

But if you take the time to head to the entrance to the Cape Brett Reserve then take a right hand turn and head up the Cape, the diving can be spectacular.

The first sea cave is located at the entrance to the reserve at Putahataha Island, one of the sentinel or guardian islands of the reserve. A typical dive here starts by anchoring on the protected inside of the island on a rocky/sandy bottom of around ten metres depth. A large cut slices into the island and this is directly in line with an underwater cave on the seaward side of the island. Perhaps in years to come we will see an underwater tunnel form.

The area hosts good numbers of Painted Moki

By heading down the rocks on the inside of the island and travelling with the island on your right shoulder you will head out around a large pinnacle off the end of the island. Typically this is home to some scorpionfish and a beautiful pair of painted moki.

By continuing around the island’s edge at a maximum depth of 13–15m you will travel across a large kelpy area home to eels, nudibranches and rays. Keep your eyes wide open on the blue water too as kingfish school here in the current.

If you keep the island on your right and your depth to 13-15m you will come across the entrance to the cave on your right. This cave is home to several large snapper and hundreds of bigeye cavefish. In the winter the bluebell tunicates bloom and this attracts lots of clown nudibranches (Ceratosoma ameonum).

As you enter the cave keep to the right and move to the back, then look up to the roof. Look behind you too. The entrance looks stunning with the bigeyes filling it up.

Several ledges act as hiding places for scorpion fish. As you exit the cave on your right a pair of spotted morays and a yellow moray have made a ledge their home. They are pretty much permanent residents and easy to photograph.

Spotted and Yellow moray make the ledges of Putahataha Island home.

Heading out of the Cape Brett Reserve you come to Bigeyes Lair, situated on the north side of Kariparipa Point. This cave starts at a depth of 14m and runs back towards the point shallowing up to 5m.
As you can tell by the name it’s a place full of bigeye cavefish. We also often see toadstool grouper and yellow banded perch there, both tropical fish not often seen in coastal dive sites. Take care as you near the back of the cave – hundreds of black urchin line the floor! Like land mines!

Further up the cape towards the Hole in the Rock we have Keyhole Cave, a great site and easy to spot since above the water it is shaped like a keyhole. The reef area in front of this cave has lots of rays, schooling fish, crayfish, and scorpionfish. Many other reef fish also call this place home.

Diving with myriads of reef fish like two-spot demoiselles is a daily pleasure in the deep blue walls of Cape Brett.

The entrance is easily accessible with rays often hanging out in it. At the rear is a very small restriction which, on the calmest of days it is possible to pass through. But once through it is pitch black so remember to take a good torch.

At the back of the cave there is a beach where little blue penguins nest. But please note, it is not practical to access this beach due to the nature of the restrictions present, and even on the calmest of days it gets a lot of surge. The possibility of getting in and not being able to get out is very real. Please practice caution.

Outside the cave many boulders and undercut rocks hide lots of critters for you to find. The average depth here is 10–16m.

The next two sites are at Motukokako or Piercy Island, otherwise known as the Hole in the Rock itself.

The Hole in the Rock is probably the Bay of Islands most popular tourist attraction but those who don’t dive miss out on a truly spectacular experience.
On the right day, with a bit of current, the entrance and exit to the Hole are filled with schooling koheru, trevally, sweep, blue maomao, kahawai and huge kingfish. At times you will find it difficult to see your buddy as the fish can be so densely packed!

Yes, you'll almost certainly see crayfish. Let's aim to keep it that way.Yes, you'll almost certainly see crayfish. Let's aim to keep it that way.

Cathedral Cave is on the inside of the Hole in the Rock, to the left of the entrance to the hole, and is a large sea cave. You need to have more diving experience for this dive due to the nature of the currents in the area. But at the right time of year it’s hard to beat. Rays school here to breed and at times you won’t be able to see the cave floor for both large short tailed and long tailed stingrays.

The floor at the entrance of Cathedral Cave is around 28m with the cave shallowing up to around 10-12m at the back. The side walls as you exit the cave are very interesting, encrusted with life with some lovely nudibranches, and eels.

Various species of ray can be observed. Some are surprisingly friendly.

A great plan for this dive is to follow the right hand wall into the cave, taking your time. When you get to the back area where all the boulders are, turn and enjoy the view. Stingrays will be silhouetted against the blue backdrop. It’s stunning!

Diving inside the Hole in the Rock itself must be treated as an overhead environment due to the amount of boat traffic. It’s at an average depth of 10m and traverses lots of boulders which hide lots of eels, scorpion fish and octopus.

The Hole in the Rock is also the most common place where we see Lord Howe coral fish, typically hanging out in pairs, but they are skittish and hard to take pictures of, though worth the effort.

A Toadstool Groper - relatively rarely seen in New Zealand waters yet fairly frequently spotted at Cape Brett.

The Hole is typically dived as a drift and as you exit you can slide around to your right or left and either be picked up at the dog island, or if you went the other way, get picked up at the entrance to Cathedral Cave.

A DSMB (Delayed Surface Marker Buoy) and a good boatman are essential for drift diving here. And only dive this site in calm conditions as the currents through and around the Hole in the Rock can be extreme.