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Long Island Scuba Diving Site

The following information has kindly been provided by Nine at Nine Dives and Go Dive Marlborough

Long Island is a marine reserve in the confines of the Marlborough Sounds, it is a protected area were no fishing is allowed and no taking of any object including plants and shells is permitted. The area is teeming with life that in other parts of New Zealand and in the Marlborough Sounds may be scarce. In the Jurassic park dive area you may see some of the enormous Cray fish ( Rock lobster ), you can regularly see the harmless ( to humans ) carpet sharks here, it is teeming with fish life on the reef and in the kelp and near the Long Island there are marble fish, plenty blue-cod, spotties, blue- and red- moki, triple fins, gobies, sea perch, butterfly perch, banded wrasse, scarlet wrasse, leather jacket, nudibranches and tarakihi. Some fish are very tame and used to divers and make patient photo models and are as interested in you as you in them.

Some seals can sometimes be found on rocks nearby and they have been nosing around scuba divers in the water with amusing antics, the area is also occasionally visited by bottlenose-, dusky- and hectors -dolphins which may take an interest in divers and small penguins can be seen too. If you are very lucky you might even see Orcas as they are regularly spotted near the boat on the way to the Island.

There are secluded beaches on the Long Island marine reserve that we often use for our one day dive courses (Discover Scuba Diving or DSD for short) due to the sloping bottom and the interesting reefs full of life at manageable depths in this sheltered location this makes for an exiting but safe dive experience for the untrained.

Nearby are "Ships cove" James Cook's favorite landing spot where he maintained his ships, caught pigs and goats that he released years earlier, he put fresh water from the local waterfall on board. It now makes an idyllic landing spot with a monument to Captain Cook on the lovely beach, we often land here for a picnic. The local weka's are usually interested what is being eaten.

Also near is Motuara Island, not a marine reserve but benefiting from the overspill of life on Long Island, this is the area to catch your crays and to spear fish on a hunting trip.

The water in this area generally benefits from the more varied outer Sounds fish life and a general water visibility of 5-15 meter.

However it can also be turbulent in this area and this may affect viz quite a bit after a storm.