Maycocks - Sand Channels

Best months: Jan–Dec

Protected Area

Folkstone

Why dive here

With 376+ marine species recorded in the area - including barracuda, dolphins, humpback whales, octopuses and orcas - Maycocks - Sand Channels offers some of West Coast's richest reef diving. Water sits around 28°C.

Marine lifeBarracuda, Dolphins, Humpback Whales, Octopuses and Orcas · 376+ species recorded

Water28°C · warmest January, February, March

CharacterReef dive

StandoutExceptional marine biodiversity

Pillar Rock in the Bay of Islands offers a dive that often surprises us. It's not the deepest spot, maxing out around 18 metres, but it delivers on character. You drop down onto a rocky, kelp-strewn reef, and immediately, the fish life starts to unfold. We’ve had dives here where schools of blue maomao and two-spot demoiselles are so thick they part around you like a curtain, glinting in the shafts of light that push through the surface. It’s an almost tactile experience, feeling them shift around you. What we love about Pillar Rock is its gentle ebb and flow, making it ideal for a relaxed exploration. We've often spotted big schools of drummers here, moving with a calm, deliberate rhythm, and the occasional bronze whaler shark has cruised by in the blue, though they're usually just passing through. Keep an eye out in the kelp fronds for the smaller stuff too, like the oblique-swimming triplefin, which often blends in perfectly with its surroundings. Our pick for the best experience is often a mid-morning dive, as the light penetrates the kelp just right.

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