HMNZS Waikato
Dive site · New Zealand
Advanced divers and up
Is it worth the trip?
57Fair out of 100 for your dates
Best on Sun 8: Sea 1 m, Visibility about 15 m, Water 18 °C
Mon 2 · 58 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.2 m
- Wind
- 11 kn
- Gusts
- 16kn
- Air
- 18°C
Tue 3 · 53 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.3 m
- Wind
- 12 kn
- Gusts
- 17kn
- Air
- 18°C
Wed 4 · 43 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.6 m
- Wind
- 12 kn
- Gusts
- 15kn
- Air
- 18°C
Thu 5 · 54 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.4 m
- Wind
- 12 kn
- Gusts
- 20kn
- Air
- 19°C
Fri 6 · 57 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.2 m
- Wind
- 11 kn
- Gusts
- 17kn
- Air
- 19°C
Sat 7 · 54 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.4 m
- Wind
- 5 kn
- Gusts
- 23kn
- Air
- 18°C
Sun 8 · 65 out of 100
- Sea
- 1.0 m
- Wind
- 11 kn
- Gusts
- 17kn
- Air
- 18°C
Tap a day for sea, wind and water. Full forecast
Forecast: next 10 days
Full forecast- Sun 173, good
- Mon 258, fair
- Tue 353, fair
- Wed 443, poor
- Thu 554, fair
- Fri 657, fair
- Sat 754, fair
- Sun 865, good
- Mon 956, fair
- Tue 1061, good
The site in five facts
- Down to 28 mits deepest
- From a boathow you get in
- Advancedand up
- Water 18 °C7 mm wetsuit and hood
- Faces Eswell from there reaches it
Full forecast
every day, every number
The score doesn't know currents, the visibility on the day or your certification.
Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. Scored for Advanced divers.
| Day | Score | Sea | Wind | Gusts | Air |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1Nov | 73, good | 0.7 m | 12 kn | 17kn | 17°C |
| Mon 2Nov | 58, fair | 1.2 m | 11 kn | 16kn | 18°C |
| Tue 3Nov | 53, fair | 1.3 m | 12 kn | 17kn | 18°C |
| Wed 4Nov | 43, poor | 1.6 m | 12 kn | 15kn | 18°C |
| Thu 5Nov | 54, fair | 1.4 m | 12 kn | 20kn | 19°C |
| Fri 6Nov | 57, fair | 1.2 m | 11 kn | 17kn | 19°C |
| Sat 7Nov | 54, fair | 1.4 m | 5 kn | 23kn | 18°C |
| Sun 8Nov | 65, good | 1.0 m | 11 kn | 17kn | 18°C |
| Mon 9Nov | 56, fair | 1.1 m | 16 kn | 18knboats in | 18°C |
| Tue 10Nov | 61, good | 1.1 m | 12 kn | 17kn | 17°C |
| Wed 11Nov | 46, fair | 1.3 m | 20 kn | 27kn | 17°C |
Sea is the waves near the site, in metres; wind and gusts in knots. "Boats in": gusts that keep dive boats in. More
Tide
- Sun 1 NovHigh 00:09 +0.9 mLow 06:25 −1.0 mHigh 12:49 +1.0 mLow 19:03 −0.8 m
- Mon 2 NovHigh 01:08 +0.8 mLow 07:24 −0.9 mHigh 13:48 +0.9 mLow 20:06 −0.8 m
- Tue 3 NovHigh 02:12 +0.7 mLow 08:26 −0.9 mHigh 14:51 +0.9 mLow 21:11 −0.8 m
Local clock times; heights about mean sea level. On open coasts the times are usually within a quarter of an hour; in bays, estuaries and on the Gulf of Mexico they can be an hour or more out. Slack water, the safest time to dive where there is current, is about half an hour either side of each high and low. Tide: EOT20 global ocean tide model, Hart-Davis et al. 2021, DGFI-TUM (doi:10.17882/79489), CC BY 4.0. Times and heights computed by us. A model, not a tide table: check a local table before you go.
Forecast updated . It refreshes every three hours. Forecast data: ECMWF, DWD, Météo-France and NOAA, served by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0). Changed by us. Generated using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information.
Best time to go
No month stands out
Good diving days in a typical week, each month, for Advanced divers, from 2016 on (ERA5 history scored the same way).
- Jan6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Jan
- Feb6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Feb
- Mar6of 7: a trip from Sat 6 Mar
- Apr5of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Apr
- May5of 7: a trip from Sat 1 May
- Jun5of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Jun
- Jul5of 7: a trip from Sat 3 Jul
- Aug5of 7: a trip from Sat 7 Aug
- Sep5of 7: a trip from Sat 4 Sept
- Oct6of 7: a trip from Sat 2 Oct
- Nov6of 7: a trip from Mon 2 Nov
- Dec6of 7: a trip from Sat 5 Dec
Tap a month to see this spot for a trip then.
Typical, not a forecast: the sea and the mean wind of each day, with no gusts or rain in the history.
Map
the site and its town
HMNZS Waikato on Google Maps · Directions
Each place wears its best day on these dates: green good, amber fair, pale red poor, as the key says.
The map needs JavaScript. Every place on it is listed on this page, and each place's page links to Google Maps.
One finger scrolls the page; two fingers move the map. Pins are our own positions. Map OpenFreeMap, © OpenMapTiles, data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
About
the place in full, sources, credits
About HMNZS Waikato
A wreck dive. It goes down to 28 m. You get in from a boat. It suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it. The coast faces E: swell from the E reaches it, and wind from the W blows out to sea. No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 45 km away. The sea is about 16°C in August, its coldest month (7 mm wetsuit and hood), and 22°C in February, its warmest (5 mm wetsuit). The town to stay in is Tutukaka. Within 5 km we also list 15 dive sites.
- What it is Wreck.
- How deep Down to 28 m.
- Getting in From a boat.
- Who it suits Suits Advanced divers and up, as a dive guide states it.
- Dive centres No dive centre within 10 km, the nearest 45 km away.
Water about 18°C: 7 mm wetsuit and hood. Typical sea temperature for the time of year, not a forecast.
Visibility about 15 m. Typical for the time of year, estimated from ten years of NASA satellite water clarity, not a forecast. Clearest in Feb, Mar, Jun and Jul (about 20 m).
The score is the conditions only: the journey, the price and the partners never change it (how we score, how we earn).
Rough cost (estimate): about US$1,610–US$3,080 each
about US$1,610–US$3,080 each · 6 nights, 2 sharing: flights, hire car, stay, food.
Our estimate from typical public prices, not a quote: check the real prices before you book (where they come from). Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
How we worked it out
| What | How we worked it out | Each |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | return MDW to AKL, estimated from distance and season, changing at DFW, full-service airlines, with a hold bag | about US$831–US$1,720 |
| Hire car | 6 days, shared | about US$134–US$228 |
| Stay | 6 nights, a mid-range double, shared | about US$342–US$563 |
| Food | 7 days eating out | about US$301–US$563 |
| Total | about US$1,610–US$3,080 |
Guided dives are not priced yet: we have no sourced price, so it is not in it. Prices from public sources, checked in 2026.
Where to stay: Tutukaka
41 min by car · 7 places to stay
about US$127/nightcountry average
About Tutukaka its beds, food and every spot near it
About US$127 a night is our estimate of the country's average 2-star double room that month: not each town's price, and not a quote. Drives are estimates. Prices are about, in US Dollar (USD): our pound figures at the European Central Bank's rate of 30 October 2026.
Getting there: about 28h 05m
About 28h 05m door to door from Chicago
Fly MDW → AKL, changing at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), then 3h 15m by road
Flights MDW → AKL on your dates · Skyscanner
An estimate, one way; the journey never changes the score.
In the water
Dives and courses in Tutukaka · GetYourGuideDive gear hire in Tutukaka · GetYourGuide
Dive centres nearby
No dive centre mapped within 25 km.
Dive centres: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Credits
What you might see
Animals divers and surveys have recorded within 2 km of this site in the last 15 years. A record says someone saw it here, not that you will.
Blue-eyed Triplefin Notoclinops segmentatus
Seen in 28 records, mostly Oct.
Chromis dispila
Seen in 26 records, mostly Oct.
Centrostephanus rodgersii
Seen in 25 records, mostly Oct.
Kina Evechinus chloroticus
Seen in 23 records, mostly Oct.
Oblique-swimming Triplefin Forsterygion maryannae
Seen in 23 records, mostly Oct.
Parma alboscapularis
Seen in 21 records, mostly Oct.
Scorpis lineolata
Seen in 21 records, mostly Oct.
Crested Blenny Parablennius laticlavius
Seen in 20 records, mostly Oct.
Sandager's wrasse Coris sandeyeri
Seen in 19 records, mostly Oct.
Pigfish Bodianus unimaculatus
Seen in 18 records, mostly Oct.
Scorpaena cardinalis
Seen in 13 records, mostly Oct.
Scorpis violacea
Seen in 13 records, mostly Oct.
Records: OBIS (Ocean Biodiversity Information System, IOC-UNESCO), from the datasets named here, CC0 and CC BY records only. Names: WoRMS, through OBIS; common names from Wikidata. Largest datasets here: Reef Life Survey (RLS): Reef fish dataset; Reef Life Survey (RLS): Cryptic Fish; Reef Life Survey (RLS): Invertebrates. Credits
This week: visibility about 20 m, clearer than usual (satellite plankton reading, 24 Oct). Estimated from the month's typical visibility and this week's satellite chlorophyll against the site's normal; heavy rain before a dive can still muddy it.
The current no free forecast gives. Ask a dive centre before you book.