Diving the Mokohinaus Islands

18 keen divers from Dive HQ Hibiscus Coast assembled at Leigh on Sunday morning at 8am to board Apollo and head out to the Mokoninaus for a days diving. It was a clear day with slight seas and a 6 knot W wind. After 1 hour 15 minutes cruising we arrived at Simpsons Rock, a small pinnacle protruding out of the water just south of the Mokohinaus group of Islands.

The surface of the water was boiling with fish and we all eagerly assembled our dive gear and entered the water with no delay. The 22 degree water was extremely pleasant as we jumped in and at first glance below the surface we could clearly see the bottom 40m+ below us…absolutely awesome visability !! As we swam towards the vertical walls of Simpson Rock we were surrounded by huge schools of Trevally, Kingfish, Kawai and Demoinelle fish. Other highlights of the dive were an eagle ray and octopus.For Jerry, Mimi, Logan, Mike and John it was an amazing dive to begin their PADI Advanced course.

From there we headed to the main group of Islands to anchor up for a surface interval and lunch. Brian the Captain cranked up the BBQ and we scoffed sausages and onions wrapped in fresh bread.

Our second dive took us around another small pinnacle next to the main island where we took our time to poke through the kelp and photograph smaller critters. Some of the group discovered a cave which extended 20m+ into the pinnacle.

A big thanks to Brian from Outer Gulf Charters for your great hospitality, expertise and a fantastic days diving. We’ll be back again !

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