Australia & New Zealand · New Zealand
Kaikōura
A thousand-metre canyon reaches to within metres of the shore
Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · Public domain
A submarine canyon comes to within a few hundred metres of the Kaikōura shore, dropping past a thousand metres and driving an upwelling that feeds an extraordinary concentration of animals into a small piece of coast. Sperm whales are resident year-round, dusky dolphins move through in pods that can number several hundred, and a fur seal colony sits on the rocks at Point Kean. Dolphin and seal encounters are snorkel-based; the scuba is cold, kelpy and quiet.
About diving in Kaikōura
A day here is built around the weather rather than a dive schedule. This is an exposed coast and the peninsula is the only real shelter, so crews read the swell and the wind in the morning and pick a side: a boat off the South Bay ramp if it has dropped, a rock or beach entry if it has not, and nothing at all when a big southerly is running. Most visitors book a surface activity first and fit the diving into whatever slot is left, which is the sensible order to do it in.
Underwater it is a temperate rock coast and nothing about it looks tropical. Bull kelp thrashes in the surge along the shallow edges; below that the reef is boulder, ledge and short wall carpeted in brown kelp, sponge and encrusting growth. Recreational diving all happens in the top 25 m or so, well inshore of the shelf edge — the canyon head is something you dive alongside, never into. It is why a cold, green, plain-looking dive can hold more fish than it appears to deserve.
The 2016 Kaikōura earthquake lifted long sections of this coastline clear of the water, by several metres in places, and rearranged the shallow reef and the access points with it, so current local knowledge counts for more than any printed site map. Add water between 10 and 17°C and visibility that swings from a few metres to twenty, and this is a poor choice for a first ocean dive and a good one for divers already comfortable in cold, moving water. The town's name describes a meal of crayfish, and the ledges still hold them.
Best time to dive Kaikōura
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | 17°C63°F | 17°C63°F | 16°C61°F | 15°C59°F | 13°C55°F | 11°C52°F | 11°C52°F | 10°C50°F | 11°C52°F | 12°C54°F | 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F |
| Daytime high | 25°C77°F | 26°C79°F | 23°C73°F | 20°C68°F | 18°C64°F | 15°C59°F | 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F | 17°C63°F | 19°C66°F | 22°C72°F | 24°C75°F |
| Rain | 50 mm2.0 in | 62 mm2.4 in | 73 mm2.9 in | 78 mm3.1 in | 67 mm2.6 in | 91 mm3.6 in | 90 mm3.5 in | 72 mm2.8 in | 61 mm2.4 in | 66 mm2.6 in | 61 mm2.4 in | 70 mm2.8 in |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 17°C63°F | 17°C63°F | 16°C61°F | 15°C59°F | 13°C55°F | 11°C52°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 25°C77°F | 26°C79°F | 23°C73°F | 20°C68°F | 18°C64°F | 15°C59°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 50 mm2.0 in | 62 mm2.4 in | 73 mm2.9 in | 78 mm3.1 in | 67 mm2.6 in | 91 mm3.6 in |
| Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime |
| Sea surface | |||||
| 11°C52°F | 10°C50°F | 11°C52°F | 12°C54°F | 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F |
| Daytime high | |||||
| 14°C57°F | 15°C59°F | 17°C63°F | 19°C66°F | 22°C72°F | 24°C75°F |
| Rain | |||||
| 90 mm3.5 in | 72 mm2.8 in | 61 mm2.4 in | 66 mm2.6 in | 61 mm2.4 in | 70 mm2.8 in |
2011–2025 averages. Sea surface: NOAA Coral Reef Watch, measured at the surface, so deeper water can run colder. Daytime high and rain: NASA POWER.
Nov–Mar is warmest and calmest; sperm whales and seals are present year-round, and dusky dolphin pods are largest in winter.
Best months: January, February, March, November, December
Kaikōura water temperature and weather by month
The sea surface runs from 10 °C (50 °F) in August to 17 °C (63 °F) in February. Rain falls through the year, about 70 mm (2.8 in) a month on average, with June the wettest. Daytime highs reach 26 °C (79 °F) in February and drop to 14 °C (57 °F) in July. The coldest water here is about 10 °C (50 °F), so pack a drysuit.
Dive types & marine life
Fur seals hold the shallows year-round and juveniles will follow a snorkeller around the peninsula rocks. Underwater the cast is temperate: schooling fish over the kelp, blue cod on the reef, octopus in the ledges, nudibranchs on the rock. Dusky dolphin pods are at their biggest through June to August, which is also when the diving rates at its weakest.
- Kelp forest
- Reef
- Wall
- Pelagic & blue water
- Whales
- Dolphins
- Seals & sea lions
- Macro critters
- Nudibranchs
- Octopus & cuttlefish
- Reef fish swarms
Best dive sites in Kaikōura
Wall
Thirty metres at the head, then 600, then 2,000
Point Kean Seal Colony
Fur seal haul-out at the peninsula tip, snorkelled with juveniles.
South Bay
Sheltered bay with kelp and rock reef, the main shore-entry dive.
How to get to Kaikōura
Kaikōura sits on State Highway 1 between Christchurch and Picton, roughly two and a half hours' drive from Christchurch, and the Coastal Pacific train stops in the township on its seasonal timetable. Everything runs from town: shore entries around South Bay and the peninsula, and small boats off the South Bay ramp when the swell allows.
Photos from Kaikōura
Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · Public domain
Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · CC0
Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · Public domain
Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand · CC0
Dive videos
Kaikoura Diving Trip with the North Canterbury Dive Club · Christoph Bartneck on YouTube
Photo credits
- Fishing boats anchored in the turquoise waters of Kaikōura Bay beneath snow-dusted peaks by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- A young New Zealand fur seal pup resting on rocks near Kaikōura's Point Kean colony by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Rugged uplifted limestone shoreline at Kaikōura with the Seaward Kaikōura mountains behind by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Sharp tilted limestone ridges rising along the Kaikōura coastline by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- An old rowboat and derrick crane on the shingle beach at Kaikōura township by Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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In The Logbook
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