Cruising through Riko Riko, the world's largest sea cave. Photo / Dive Tutukaka
Natalie Akoorie finds she's a little wobbly on her sea legs but her husband gets to enjoy the rich sealife of the Poor Knights Islands.
I can't say I wasn't warned.
"If you feel seasick, head downstairs to the back of the boat where it's a calmer ride," our captain said as the boat lurched out of the marina.
Two petite Asian girls stood up and awkwardly made for the stairs.
I turned to my husband smugly and said: "Look, they must be seasick already".
Pride before a fall. At 20 weeks' pregnant, Sea Legs tablets were not an option. But there was no wind on this beautiful day as the Dive Tutukaka boat with 60 tourists on board set out for the Poor Knights Islands. Despite the captain's mention of swells, I thought I would be okay.
How wrong could I have been?
Our mini-break started the day before when hubby and I and our 4-year-old son drove from Hamilton to the seaside village of Tutukaka. The tiny town, centred on the Quality Hotel Oceans Tutukaka, is only half an hour northeast of Whangarei. And yet it felt a bit like we had left New Zealand and arrived on a Pacific Island.
Tutukaka felt relaxed and friendly and it didn't matter that it was 5pm by the time we checked in and doubled back to family beach Whangaumu Bay. A dip in the water followed by a delicious meal of flounder at the hotel restaurant was all just a pre-cursor to the main event: a Perfect Day tour to the Poor Knights Islands.
Two large islands and a group of smaller islets make up the chain which boasts a spectacular landscape, above and below water, and includes the largest sea cave in the world.
In 1981, the islands were declared a nature and marine reserve which extends 800m out from any part of the islands. That means no landing but visitors go there to swim, snorkel, dive or kayak. And there's the possibility of spotting dolphins and whales on the way.
During the 45-minute ride out we heard about the spectacular water clarity and warm sub-tropical currents that accommodate a rich and varied sea life. More than 125 fish species call the islands home. There are hundreds of kingfish, koheru, schools of pink maomao, Lord Howe coralfish, golden snapper, toadstool and black spot grouper, red moki, butterfly perch, sharp-nosed puffer fish and many species of wrasse.
But about five minutes before we lowered anchor, my stomach threatened all sorts of chaos and I sheepishly told my husband I had to get downstairs before something embarrassing happened.
Soon everybody else began descending in their wetsuits. My poor husband was tasked with single-parenting as I lay too ill to contemplate snorkelling. A very helpful crew member called Faye hovered, offering water and sympathies and eventually managing to get me into a wetsuit and into the water where I saw schools of fish darting under the boat.
My husband was one of the last back on board and told tales of swimming over a stingray, catching sight of sandagers, green wrasse, pig fish, lizard fish and thousands of two-spot demoiselles. I was jealous. He even paddleboarded for the first time and free dived 5m down to pull faces in front of the boat's underwater camera.
With everyone back we headed for Riko Riko Cave - named the largest sea cave in the world in 2003 after accurate surveying found it measured 221,000cu m. The water was a striking turquoise blue and there was so much room in the cave - it is 130m long, 26m deep, 80m wide and 35m from sea level to the ceiling - another few boats could have easily fitted in.
Then we took a leisurely ride around the islands. Welcome sleep meant I missed the schooling snapper, blue maomao, and trevally breaking the surface to feed on plankton, as well as the birdlife.
For anybody - like my husband - who isn't afflicted by sea sickness and loves diving and snorkelling, then it really is a must-do.
CHECKLIST
Getting there: Tutukaka is a two-and-a-half hour drive from Auckland.
Accommodation: Oceans Resort Hotel looks out over the marina.
Details: Dive Tutukaka runs services to the Poor Knights Islands.
The writer was a guest of Quality Hotel Oceans Tutukaka.
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