Stewart Island is located approximately 20 kilometres off the south coast of New Zealand's South Island and is accessed via a one hour ferry trip from the mainland town of Bluff, although it is also possible to get to Stewart Island via a short flight from the mainland.
Due to the more remote location of Stewart Island, the marine life thrives in the surrounding waters. On land, thick forests and dense swampland dominate a landscape which is over 85% national parkland.
Under the waters surrounding Stewart Island, large kelp forests dominate the landscape, which benefits from the increased levels of visibility due to the cooler water. On average, the visibility in the water will average around 8 - 20 metres.
The dive sites around the island tend to be dominated by the kelp forests, which are prominent throughout most of the waters around the south of New Zealand. The majority of the dive sites at Stewart Island have decent populations of marine life, and although they may lack the diversity of some of the dive sites further north, the diving can be equally rewarding due to possible encounters with the resident fur seals which inhabit these waters. As well as the fur seals, there are also good populations of Blue Moki, Blue Cod, Trumpters and Wrasse to be found here.
There are a small number of dive sites in the waters surrounding Stewart Island, the majority of which are focussed around the main settlement at Oban. Here the Paterson Inlet offers a sheltered area which offers slightly calmer conditions. The dive sites at Sandhill Bay, Port Pegasus and Port Adventure all offer decent cold water diving opportunities against the dramatic backdrops of seaweed and kelp forests. Halfmoon Bay is also a decent dive amongst the kelp forest, and gives divers the opportunity to see the visit the wreck of the Marine Maid, which sits in approximately 35 meters of water in the bay.
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