Dive report: Te Arai
Shore dive from surf beach at high tide. Wave height 1-1.5m. Vis 6-8m.
I had a chat to a local surfer before I entered the water who was worried about me in the waves with so much gear. I only had the GoPro with me. I entered in the rip and headed NE to rocks 400m offshore. Stayed on the sandy bottom, only lost visibility briefly at the break, then it cleared up.
Some barren rocks on the way out with clusters of Olive shells but no fish or kelp. I used a lot of air on the way out so only had 10 minutes or so on the bigger rocks (I wanted to save plenty of air for my return under the surf). I explored the reef at about 8-10m deep. The rocks had a diverse assembly of sponges and patches of ecklonia.
Fish seen (one of everything!) 1 John Dory, 1 Leather jacket, 1 Eagle ray, 1 Red moki, Several common triplefin and one unidentified triplefin, 1 Juvenile demoiselle, 1 Conger eel, 2 Spotty, 1 Parore, c 20 Goatfish, 3 juvenile Snapper, and one Sprat with unusual dark vertical stripes on the shore. Also accidentally dug up two Tuatua while holding my position on the seafloor going back through the surf.
The current took me NW during my safety stop. Surface swim for 10 mins then used 20 bar swimming from the break to the shore (no-problem). Only 4 surfers in the water. Exit 50 bar.
