Dive Zone Whitianga

Dive Zone Whitianga sits in the coastal town of Whitianga on New Zealand's Coromandel, where Darrell Bird arrived over the Coromandel Range in 2004 and opened the store that October. A PADI 5 Star CDC with six PADI instructors, it's a place built on quality gear, safety and the plain fun of getting underwater.

Courses and diving

Teaching runs the full range, from Discover Scuba through to Instructor ratings. You can join a Full-Day Dive Trip (from USD 210, roughly one day) or work toward your PADI Open Water Diver Course (from USD 480, around two days), with an onsite training pool and classroom to learn in.

The dive boats reach many and varied sites, among them the Mercury and Aldermen Islands, Cathedral Cove and Te Whanganui A Hei Marine Reserve, along with spots like Danger Rocks, Whale Rock, Spectacle Reef and Shipwreck Bay. Divers here encounter sharks, whales, turtles, rays, eels and ocean fish, plus corals and anemones — a good fit for newcomers and instructors-in-training alike.