New Zealand has a vibrant and varied marine wildlife, which makes it a great place for diving and spearfishing.
Arriving from England, we were excited to travel around New Zealand and to swim in its waters. After landing in Auckland, we made our way up to the furthest point north in the country, a spot called Spirits Bay.
Free Diving and Spearfishing In Spirits Bay
Once we got there, we parked up, unloaded the kayaks and made our way down the estuary and into the open bay. Tying up the rafts and duck diving down around 30-40ft, we followed the line down to the bottom. In case of strong currents and poor visibility, its a good idea to use a lanyard or line.
Most divers can hold their breath for over eight minutes, and the more you free dive the more your body can sustain longer periods under the water.
What Can You Catch
Jumping in, we really wanted to find a decent sized Kingfish, but the only ones we found were too small to fish. Our luck changed however, as a lone Crayfish’s long stretched out limbs were enticingly peering out from between some rocks. Swiftly, my buddy grabbed its body and made his way back up to put it in the net.
The Kingfish
After yet more swimming along the riverbed, we saw the remnants of shells, a tale tale sign of octopus. We failed however, to find the animal that had enjoyed the meal! Later in the afternoon, after finding a recently killed octopus, I thought of attaching it to my Hammerhead Evolution 2 speargun as bait. However, after missing an easy shot with the octopus disrupting the spear, I swiftly took it off. The speargun that I used is slightly on the expensive side, however the quick reloads and rapid-fire shots along with the excellent accuracy definitely makes it a good investment.
After being inspected by a couple of dolphins and seeing a Moray eel nestled into a couple of rocks, I finally managed to get success with my spear gun after a couple of failed attempts. We got a medium sized Snapper and a John Dory. Finding a shoal of Trevally, I shot into it, but somehow managed to miss all of them.
Free Diving and Spearfishing In Spirits Bay was so awesome and as we made our way back to the coast, we felt grateful for what the ocean had given us. It was an extremely satisfying dinner!
