Maketu Shore Dives

Mount Maunganui / Moturiki Island

Taioma Wreck (Papamoa Beach)

Tuhua (Mayor Island)

The Volkner Rocks (Te Paepae o Aotea)

White Island (Whakaari)

New Zealand cuisine features fresh Pacific seafood, lamb, and dairy products with strong Maori and Pacific influences. Green-lipped mussels, Bluff oysters, crayfish, and blue cod are regional specialities. The hangi, a traditional Maori earth oven feast, is a cultural dining experience. The craft beer and wine scene is world-class, with Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Central Otago Pinot Noir among the finest globally. Farm-to-table dining and artisan food producers are abundant throughout both islands.

Trinity Wharf Tauranga

Pacific Coast Lodge

Hotel on Devonport

Whakatane Hotel

The Bay of Plenty offers some of New Zealand's most dramatic and unique diving, headlined by the active marine volcano of White Island and pristine offshore volcanic islands. White Island, known as Whakaari, provides an extraordinary diving experience where divers explore black sand slopes while volcanic gas bubbles rise through the water, surrounded by huge schools of demoiselles and kingfish in a landscape shaped by ongoing geothermal activity. The Volkner Rocks, also known as Te Paepae o Aotea, are offshore pinnacles that attract massive kingfish aggregations, bronze whaler sharks, and seasonal manta rays in water of exceptional clarity. Tuhua, or Mayor Island, is a volcanic island with crystal-clear water, dramatic walls, large crayfish, and occasional encounters with marlin and oceanic sharks. Closer to shore, Mount Maunganui and Moturiki Island offer accessible reef diving with stingrays and octopus, while the purposely sunk tug Taioma provides an excellent wreck dive covered in sponges and macro life. The Maketu shoreline delivers macro shore dives with seahorses, pipefish, and cuttlefish. The Bay of Plenty combines volcanic geology, pelagic encounters, and accessible shore diving in a region known for its warm climate and abundant sunshine.

Bay of Plenty