True Love Reef - Bay of Islands
Bajo de los Pargos sits on the shelf’s western edge, a site we think works for most divers, maxing out around 16m. You start in a patch of sandy seabed with coral here and there, then the slope drops into a gentle wall. It’s named for the snappers, and they do show up, sometimes after a bit of coaxing. We’ve also seen jacks cruising in from the blue. Visibility usually hovers around 11m, so keep an eye out for those shyer fish.
- Location
- Bay of Islands, New Zealand, Australasia
- Coordinates
- -34.967000, 173.937000
- Type
- reef
Marine Protected Area: Totara North
Nearby Dive Sites in Bay of Islands
- 3 ways (reef)
- 3 ways (reef)
- Big Eyes Lair (cave)
- Big Eyes Lair (reef)
- Bird Rock (reef)
- Bird Rock (drift)
- Blue Maomao Arch (Bay of Islands) (reef)
- Blue Maomao Arch (Bay of Islands) (reef)
- Boulder Garden (reef)
- Boulder Garden (reef)
- Bowling Alley (reef)
- Bowling Alley (drift)
- Cathedral Cave (cave)
- Cooks Cove (reef)
- Danger Rock (reef)
Nearest Dive Centres to True Love Reef
Marine Life in Bay of Islands
Home to 172 recorded species including 100 reef fish, 22 sharks & rays, 11 whales & dolphins, 10 other, 6 crabs & lobsters, 4 seagrass & algae.
Notable Species
- Snapper (Pagrus auratus) - Reef Fish
- Red Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Striped Marlin (Kajikia audax) - Reef Fish
- California Yellowtail (Seriola lalandi) - Reef Fish
- Shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) - Sharks & Rays
- European fan-worm (Sabella spallanzanii) - Worms
- Asian paddle crab (Charybdis (Charybdis) japonica) - Crabs & Lobsters
- Bluefin Gurnard (Chelidonichthys kumu) - Reef Fish
- dory (Zeus faber) - Reef Fish
- Blue-eyed Triplefin (Notoclinops segmentatus) - Reef Fish
- Oblique-swimming Triplefin (Forsterygion maryannae) - Reef Fish
- Striped Triplefin (Forsterygion varium) - Reef Fish
- Spotty (Notolabrus celidotus) - Reef Fish
- Ranger (Pseudocaranx dentex) - Reef Fish
- Species code: Zc (Zostera muelleri) - Seagrass & Algae
- Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) - Sharks & Rays
- banded morwong (Chirodactylus spectabilis) - Reef Fish
- Southern Eagle Ray (Myliobatis tenuicaudatus) - Sharks & Rays
- Crested Blenny (Parablennius laticlavius) - Reef Fish
- Eastern king wrasse (Coris sandeyeri) - Reef Fish