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Log This Dive

El Chuncho

Joeys’ Maze in the Bay of Islands is one of those sites that just feels… playful. We love drifting through the tight canyons and channels that give it its name, feeling the gentle surge nudge us along. It’s a proper maze, too; we’ve definitely taken a few wrong turns over the years, which is half the fun. It’s not a deep dive, maxing out around 16m, but there’s so much to explore. The kelp is thick here, creating shadowy hideouts for olive rockfish and black cod. Keep an eye out for Big-belly seahorses clinging to the stalks; they’re surprisingly camouflaged. Our favourite trick is to spot the patches of clean white sand between the coral and kelp, usually a good indicator of where a southern eagle ray might be resting. Visibility averages around 8m, which feels just right for the intimate scale of the maze. We’d suggest going at slack tide to really take your time poking into every nook and cranny. It’s perfect for open water divers looking for something a bit more adventurous than a simple drift, but still very manageable.