To date, all of my dives at Princess Bay have gone either east or west after descending. But after the dive briefing today, I learned that going south is an option too.

Going south after descending on the shore reef, there's a sandy patch. After that, you descend a bit more, maybe to 8-10 metres max. Then you hit an upslope and go up to 6-ish metres. Now you're on another reef and can hit depths to 15-18 metres.

It makes the navigation simple! Go south, turn around, and go north.

This hermit crab was considering a new home.

Hermit Crab

This crab pulled a Harry Houdini.

Red Rock Crab

I'm always fascinated by the moulted exoskeleton of a crayfish. I dropped this one on the green sea grass just to get some better colour.

Moulted Exoskeleton of a Crayfish

Anemone

Right after we turned around to head back north, we encountered this very sleepy carpet shark. It didn't move a fin as I took pictures and a video of it.

Carpet Shark

While I was videoing the shark, this bloody blue cod wouldn't leave me alone. It was even biting my exposed finger I had on resting on my camera's shutter button! I acquiesced and took some pics of it.

Blue Cod

iNaturalist NZ: Observations on 2026-01-10.

Location: Wellington, North Island, Wellington, New Zealand

Dive Number:   279 Bottom Time: 57m Time In: 10:53 a.m. Tank In: 200 PSI Max Depth: 15.00 ft Table Used:

Mix:   Air Safety Stop: 3m Time Out: 11:50 a.m. Tank Out: 76 PSI Average Depth: 8.00 ft Start Pressure Group:

Surface Interval:   End Pressure Group:

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