The Poor Knights Islands are a beautiful marine reserve & Yukon Dive is a fantastic choice to take…read moreyou there on a dive or snorkel tour. Every part of the services they supplied was on point, from the dive & snorkel equipment to the thorough safety explanation to the hot drinks on board. The dive boat was also the nicest I've been on, very comfortable. They also drove us through beautiful natural arch ways of the islands & into the largest sea cave in the world . And the snorkeling was awesome, through caves teeming with fish. A day very well spent!

We were heading out for a snorkel at Goat Island Marine Reserve. Mask - check. Flippers - check…read more Wetsuit? Oops... I could have manned up and just battled the cold, but decided instead to drop in at Goat Island Dive and see if I could hire a wetsuit. Of course I could! They were friendly and efficient. Within minutes I was zipped up and for $15 I had the suit for the day. Little sis started chatting to them about doing her Padi. While I slowly melted in the corner, she was given loads of info and advice about their up-coming courses. She got so excited that she booked then and there. The staff are knowledgeable and friendly. If you have any questions about snorkeling or diving before heading to Goat Island, it's a good place to stop.

Goat Island Marine Reserve is an absolute diving mecca, so on a good day up there you'll find many…read morehundreds of people of all ages in wet suits and snorkels checking out/marvelling at the local marine life. While some of these folk are pretty hardcore and have their own stuff, you can bet that a fair chunk of them have hired their gear from Goat Island Dive, a snorkel shop which is set up a few minutes up the road from the reserve itself. They have everything you need for a good day in the water, and are full of helpful tips and hints on where to go and what to do - it couldn't be easier. Apparently they also do guided tours out to the outer Gulf which I'm yet to try - certainly on my list of things to do though!

People in New Zealand -- the West Pacific -- think that water is "really cold" and requires a…read morewetsuit when it is somewhere in the mid 70s F -- but for me -- that's the perfect temperature. Over here in the East Pacific, we have MUCH chillier water. I brought my own snorkel gear, found a nice family who were not leaving any time soon and deposited my stuff near the non-swimming grandfather to watch, though, being NZ, I had little to worry about. Then - I hopped in the water and swam off to circumnavigate Goat Island, solo and without (gasp!) a PFD or lifeguard. I saw heaps of rays and even some reef sharks. The current between the island and the shore is a bit pushy, so I recommend checking the currents and swimming anticlockwise on an ebbing tide. Total swim was about 2200 meters, and very doable for a strong swimmer. If you're not a strong swimmer - bring a SUP or a kayak and have fun!

The golden beach at Goat Island is the place I completed one of my bucket list items : to skinny…read moredip. It all happened on a sunny afternoon when my boyfriend and I decided to get away from the hustle and bustle of Auckland. We got to Goat Island beach, parked the car and sat on one of the grass patches overlooking the beach and other spectacular views while we munched on some home made goodies. After lunch we decided to walk around, we had no plans to swim as we had dinner plans later on that evening. We walked in the water and soon found ourselves in another area where there is a fountain, I stripped down to my under garments and went in the water. The water was clear, had that green marine colour to it. It wasn't too cold and it felt so good against my skin. Next thing you know I had one less item on my bucket list. Goat island the perfect place to shorten your bucket list, swim, have a picnic and snorkel.

Perfect spot for all your diving hardware requirements. These guys really know their stuff.read more

This has to be one of the busiest beaches during the summer months! And it's pretty obvious why…read more The beach itself is absolutely beautiful. The water is clear and crisp and the sand is squeaky clean... it actually squeaks sometimes when you rub your feet in it! This is a great beach for the family as more often that not there are little waves, which make for some fun boogie boarding or body surfing. As Jacob said it's not often that there's real surf-able waves here but when the east coast swell gets up and hits at the right angle you might be in for a treat. There are some awesome rock pools to explore and a hill to climb which gives you a great look out over the bay. But be careful! I once saw a group of young kids get washed along the rocks as a set wave rolled in. Make sure you accompany your kids and only go exploring if there aren't big waves and the tide's not too high!

Beautiful Anchor Bay is a day trip spent perfectly in one of our regions golden treasures…read more I spent Easter Sunday here with my son and partner, we arrived not too long after lunch, and the car park close by was already packed to maximum capacity. A short walk down to the beach via the beach path and we found a lovely patch of sand with our name on it. I spent my time here swimming in the beautiful clean cool ocean, body surfing waves, and sun tanning. I recommend if you're not too relaxed to take a walk down the beach towards the rock pools which fill up and explore a deep human sized rock pool that you can dive bomb into! Sublime. The little kids will enjoy running about the rock pools and soaking in them, or searching for the little and big crabs that call it their home. The oceans out beyond the bay are protected as a marine reserve so the fish/sea creatures are happy and you won't see a fisherman in this regional park area. I love the peace I feel at Anchor Bay and always cherish my time here.

To access the trailhead from the cruise port, head over to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and pass it,…read morecontinue up the hill until you find an unmarked path in a field which heads left and leads to a parking lot which has the next sign to walk toward. Upon finding this sign, take a very short jaunt past the golf course (really?) and enter the forest at the next sign. For the next 3 1/4 miles, you get to hike through a forest with the most interesting/complex/R2D2 sounding birds called the Tui which was probably the most fascinating part of the hike. At about 1.7 miles, you encounter the iconic bridge which leads to the mangrove trees where you can take Instagram worthy photos. Before the falls, the path has a fork in the road that is (again) unmarked at which point you want to take the path up the hill through the turnstile. Upon arriving at the falls, you'll see a parking lot (you mean I could have driven here?) and toilets on the side. Taking photos at the falls is, of course, fun, but it was the Tui birds that I remember the most about this hike.

Such a cool waterfall! I loved being able to see it from the top, and after a long road trip filled…read morewith lots of falls (and lots of hiking to get to those falls), I sincerely appreciated that the parking lot is less than a one minute walk to the falls. Because it's not a trek, the crowds do build up, and this isn't really the ideal spot to spend some time. There are picnic tables around if you're into that, but they are not looking at the falls - more so at the road. We found some stray chickens which were really pretty, they were just chilling around the falls. I would totally recommend checking this place out if you're in Paihia - it's a great photo spot!