Dive Pacific 175 Dec2020 Jan 2021

Richard is optimistic New
Zealand will be seen as a cleaner,
safer destination as a result of
our Covid experience, and reap
the rewards of our reputation.
But my expectations are it will be
a long hard rebuild, he said.
Brent points out it really depends
on how long the border restrictions
are in place. “I think they
need to be lifted by mid 2021 if
we expect international tourism
to get back to pre Covid levels
for the 2021/22 season. In the
meantime we are working on
building our domestic client
base.”
Kevin accentuates the positive
for his local community: “We
appreciate still being here for our
area.”
Kate’s longer term view aims to
climb to “80% of previous levels
of international visitors by the
2024 summer but a long time
before getting back to pre-Covid
revenues. 2020 has put us back a
decade. We may never get back to
the numbers we once had, but we
still deliver a world class experience.”
7) Any interesting stories to tell
about what happened during
the last 6 months?
A big feature of the year for Kevin
has been the general vibe of our
community intent on looking out
for each other. He said there has
been “heaps of causes helping out
those in need in the East Coast.”
Craig is grateful for his locality:
“How lucky we are to have such
amazing winter diving in the Bay
of Islands with vis ranging from
20 to 30m and the water temp
isn’t bad, normally down to 16c.”
Adam found the drama of it all
an eye opener too: “When we
first went to Level 4 I set up my
spare room like a ‘war room’.
Charts and graphs on the walls,
scenario planning, the works.
After about four days of that I
realised it was a complete waste
Bright corals in the Southern Fiords
of time - we didn’t know what
the next 12 days would bring! We
changed tack, focusing purely on
survival.”
Brent found the lockdown a good
time to reflect, a bit like a trial
retirement…. “Not bad really, I
could quite enjoy being retired,
as long as I can still get out for a
dive or two, and the government
has enough revenue to cover my
super.”
Richard highlights the upside
of local support: “I guess the
most positive thing is we have
experienced quite some growth
from the dive sector domestically
as overseas trips are not on
offer currently. And we’ve seen
an increase in returning clients
as they look to rediscover what
Fiordland has to offer,” he said.
Kate expounds the attractions
of the Poor Knights, protected,
and isolated, but still open to
some travellers!
“We have had
humpback whales,
Brydes, minke, and
orca, dolphins, mola
mola and seals, a
resident turtle, and
schooling trevally
and snapper in huge
numbers.
“The Buller shearwater’s
have
returned from
North America and are nesting
and feeding, and from early
November the pohutukawa are
already in strong flower, with the
Poor Knights Lily in full bloom
through October.”
Paihia Dive 0800 107 551
www.divenz.com
Dive! Tutukaka
0800 288 882
www.diving.co.nz
Waiheke Dive
09 217 4892
www.Waihekedive.com
Dive and Gas, Gisborne 06
8679662
diveandgas@gmail.com
GoDivePacific, Picton
0274 344 874
www.Godivepacific.co.nz
Fiordland Expeditions
0508 888 656
www.fiordlandexpeditions.co.nz
Taking notes with Sea Adventures
Photo Credit: Fiordland Expeditions
24 Dive New Zealand | Dive Pacific