In January 2011, I solo dived Goat Island near Leigh on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. There are in fact several Goat Islands around New Zealand. In the late 19th Century, seafarers concerned they could be marooned on desolate parts of the New Zealand coast with no easy food source of food, left goats on small islands each called Goat Island where if required they could be caught and eaten. The Goat Island Marine Reserve, New Zealand's first marine reserve, was established in 1975 and covers Cape Rodney to Okari Point.
Mary and I were spending a week in New Zealand. We had driven north from Auckland to the Bay of Islands then to Cape Reinga at the tip of the North Island before heading back south via the Waipoua Kauri Forest to Leigh. Our first impression of the mainland beach by Goat Island was not favourable. It was horrendously overcrowded and reminded me of the UK’s Margate beach on a bad day. New Zealand is blessed with many fabulous quiet golden sandy beaches so why everybody had gathered together on a small beach with black sand baffled us.
However my dive was very enjoyable. After diving New Zealand’s Poor Knights Islands earlier in the week where the water temperature had been 17/19º, this was much more to my liking: 21º/22º. Maybe it was because I was diving in a long established marine reserve but the behaviour of the fish life was unusual. As soon as I dropped down from the surface of the sea, I was greeted by a procession of inquisitive fish. In order to try and take photographs, I had to back off from them as some were literally pecking away at the front of underwater housing lens. Retreating only seemed to increase the curiosity of the fish. I saw an Eagle Ray, several Stingrays, Leatherjackets, Snappers, Banded Wrasse, Blue Cod and Goatfish.