Welcome to Total Bottom Time!

Total Bottom Time is my online personal dive log. A place where I can share my dives with friends, family, other divers, and the world. You can find out a bit more about me and see my full log of dives by clicking on my profile on the right. Feel free to subscribe to my dives via email or RSS.

Below are just some of my latest dives.

My next dive of the day was "around the block", where we entered the bay on the left of the snorkel trail and then dived around to the bay on the right of the snorkel trail. However, this time I was diving with some people new to the trail and they (inadvertently) took a shortcut through the shallows of the rocks between the two bays.

I didn't mind at all because being in the shallows makes for a different dive and I even saw a Green-boned Butterfish for the first time at the site. It wasn't easy to spot!

Green-boned Butterfish

Spot the Purple (Green) Wrasse.

Purple Wrasse

At the end of the dive, there was a small school of Yelloweye Mullet just below the surface.

Yelloweye Mullet

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I've never had a Black Foot Paua (Abalone) be the most interesting wildlife on a dive before but it happened on this dive.

I was diving by a rock wall with many Paua attached to it. All very normal but I noticed a stalk of seaweed moving back and forth. The seaweed was growing on this Paua and, from its black foot attached to the rock wall, it was twisting with a quarter turn to the left and then a quarter turn to the right. It must have done that for 30 seconds as I moved towards it. It was really remarkable. I'm gutted I didn't get a video!

Paua

A number of anemone and lots of interesting critters on the site.

Anemone

White-striped Anemone

Wandering Anemone

Purple Wrasse

Variable Triplefin

Scarlett Wrasse

This Blue Cod's upper lip was a bit deformed but it didn't mind me getting close for some pictures.

Blue Cod

I saw this Paua at the end of the dive. No twisting. I just really liked the mini-forest growing on its shell.

Paua

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Houghton Bay has one spot, close to the usual descent point, that has been dubbed The Fish Spot. You'll typically go by it once on your way out and once on your way back. There is usually at least one blue moki at The Fish Spot, digging around in the kelp, chewing it up, and attracting many other fish. Today it was in fine form.

The Fish Spot

Not long after, The Fish Spot is a crevasse that is always full of crayfish. Today it was in fine form. The right-hand side of the crevasse wall was literally layered with crayfish there were so many. It was impossible to tell where one stopped and another began.

Crayfish

The return path went through The Fish Spot again. I made sure to really get into the middle of it this time.

The Fish Spot

At the end of the dive, I saw this happy little common triplefin camped out in a cook's turban.

Common Triplefin

iNaturalist NZ: Observations on 2026-01-10.

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