On the second day of diving, I went out with Goat Island Dive & Snorkel. The waters surrounding Goat Island are a marine reserve. In fact, the reserve was created in 1975 as the first marine reserve in New Zealand so the whole area is in excellent condition and attracts a lot of visitors.

In the picture below Goat Island is the forested island off to the right.

Goat Island

Goat Island from the water

The bottom was thick with kelp and a variety of wildlife. By far the highlight of the dive was this encounter with a pregnant eagle ray feeding on the bottom. It was fairly docile due to its pregnancy so I was able to get pretty close to it through the kelp without disturbing it.

Pregnant eagle ray

It really was a forest of kelp in areas. While the other divers stayed above the kelp, I found it was much more interesting to venture below.

Kelp swim through

There was more to see on the rest of the dive too.

Crab

Coral

Snapper

Sea slug

It was a great dive at Goat Island! I highly recommend it if you're in the area.

Location: Leigh, New Zealand

Dive Number:   129 Bottom Time: 50m Time In: 9:39 a.m. Tank In: Max Depth: 22.00 ft Table Used:

Mix:   Air Safety Stop: Time Out: 10:29 a.m. Tank Out: Average Depth: 13.00 ft Start Pressure Group:

Surface Interval:   End Pressure Group:

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