Tutukaka - Poor Knights Islands

The Marina in the beautiful Tutukaka harbour is a safe haven for boats sailing north of Auckland on the east coast.
Tutukaka has some restaurants and accommodation is mostly on the headland to the south.

Find operators here for a diving, snorkelling or kayaking experience at the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve. Surfing takes place at spots on the Tutukaka Coastline
You can also dive two former New Zealand navy warships, HMNZS Tui and HMNZS Waikato sunk as artificial reefs off Tutukaka. For a leisurely adventure taking in a range of activities you can cruise on a charter yacht. If you find out why one pretty little bay is named Skull Bay, please let us know.

Reputedly named after Captain Cook's breakfast, the Poor Knights Islands are a world-renowned dive site, 22 kilometres off the east coast of Northland.

Rated by the late French oceanographer, Jacques Cousteau, as one of the top ten dive spots in the world, the small cluster of islands has been a marine reserve since 1981.

This status grants full protection for all plant and animal species within 800 metres of the islands coast, It's a law which is strictly enforced, with permits required for landing a boat, usually only granted to vessels on scientific research. If you’re caught fishing you’d best be prepared to face the consequences – confiscation of your boat and equipment, along with a hefty fine.

The islands are the eroded remnants of a 4-million- year-old underwater volcano. Dive companies are able to take you there from the small seaside village of Tutukaka, 90 minutes north of Auckland.. These islands were inhabited by members of the Ngatiwai tribe for much of the 18th century and were used as a base to collect seasonal seafood and birds until 1820. Then, with their chief away, the population were slaughtered during inter-tribal war. Returning to find his tribe dead, Chief Tatua declared the islands tapu (or sacred). They've been unoccupied ever since.

But while the human history is fascinating, it's the wildlife for which the Poor Knights have become renowned. Since the award of reserve status 26 years ago, the marine population has surged, with all manner of acquatic life regrouping in waters warmed by a subtropical current from the northwest. Take a scuba or snorkelling trip and you'll be amazed at the array - and abundance - of sea life to be seen.

Dive only twenty metres below the surface to find kelp forests, thick and resplendent, highlighted by brightly coloured sea slugs and legions of crayfish. Even snorkelling is enough to thrill you, as schools of snapper and blue mao mao swarm - some tame enough to touch (provided you're speedy) - while in March the ocean is black with mating sting ray. It was this scene which appeared in the BBC's award winning series, “Blue Planet”, with hundreds of the creatures hovering in the archways which dominate the island's submerged landscape.

Be sure to pop into Riko Riko cave as well – it's the largest sea cave in the world, with accoustics so good that a popular New Zealand musician, Neil Finn, once played a floating gig there.

Feel free to sing along, yourself.

By the way, Captain Cook’s breakfast supposedly consisted of chunks of fried bread with jam on top, a combination known as Poor Knight's Pudding. Conjure up the image and, with a little imagination, you may see a similarity with pictures of islands with pohutakawas.

Endless Summer Tutukaka Coast by Alison Gilmour

Image Credits: Peter Southwood, Anna Barnett and Anthony