Wellington Underwater Club
Wellington Underwater Club draws on a long active history. Founded in 1951, our members have a broad range of skills and experience. We are fortunate to have some of the most easily accessible shore diving in NZ but we also organise trips to dive destinations all around New Zealand. We are involved in recreational and technical dive activities as well as exploration projects and marine conservation.
The Club is highly networked in the local marine and conservation community and engages with other clubs and organisations in and beyond the Wellington region.
Whether you call Wellington home or are just visiting, get in touch and we’ll show you some fantastic diving at our doorstep or you can join us on one of our trips.
What we’ve been up to...
F69 dive - November 2025
Join us for a boat dive!
The club has chartered the Dive Wellington boat (“Southern Comfort”) two dives on the F69.
Meet at Dive Wellington 8:30am November 1st (first Saturday in November).
If the weather doesn’t play ball we have a backup booked for 1:30pm November 30th (last Sunday in November).
Member price $50 per diver.
Not a member (or have a buddy who isn’t)? Join the club for $20.
Interested? Of course you are, contact the club (on Facebook or via email) and pay $50 to secure your spot for the dive on the 1st of November.
To dive on the boat and to keep Dave happy...
- You would need to have Advanced certification at a minimum.
- Have a SMB and reel.
South Coast Cleanup 2025
The Wellington Underwater Club was at site 7 (Lyall Bay - near boat ramp and Woof Woof Ruff).
Missed the 2025 cleanup? You will need to wait until 2026 for the next cleanup!
75th club anniversary
The club is turning 75 in 2026!
The committee is open to suggestions on what to do for this milestone. Message us on our facebook page or send us an This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your thoughts.
Wellington City Council (WCC) - Coastal Reserves Management Plan
The Wellington City Council adopted the Tātou ki Ute - the Coastal Reserves Management Plan on the 4th of September.
Link to Wellington City Council documents
Landing page with updates on plan
The Wellington Underwater Club made this submission.
WUC 2025 AGM
The AGM attendees gave the committee the go-ahead to investigate a couple of projects that we're excited by, to make use of some of the funds in our accounts and give back to our club members and the wider community.
1) We'll be looking into the feasibility of donating a defibrillator for a public place along the south coast to keep our diving community and anyone visiting our amazing Taputeranga Marine Reserve safe.
2) Looking into some updates to our website, to build it into a resource for divers, celebrate the photography skills and wealth of diving experience amongst our members, and hopefully bring more members to the club.
We hope to be able to get to work on those soon, and see what we can come up with.
Coastguard
What floats your boat?
For those with a boat should consider getting a Coastguard membership, before they get that drifting (or sinking) feeling.
The above photo was taken at the open day held on the 3rd of October 2024.
https://www.coastguard.nz/our-story/about-us/find-your-local/wellington
Rahui
Sad news with a person being found in the water on the South coast in September 2024.
In Māori culture, a rāhui is a form of tapu restricting access to, or use of, an area or resource by the kaitiakitanga of the area.
In this case the rāhui applied to the area from the Western side of Taputeranga Island to Princess bay in the east and ended on the 18th of September 2024.
Buddy diving
Ghost Diving cleanup
Regan (second from right) and Geoff (third from right) helped out at recent Ghost Diving cleanup dive at Oriental Bay (aka "Tug Boat").
A cornerstone of life
Seaweed – A cornerstone of life
Far from being the obnoxious, unwanted plants the poorly chosen name suggests, the “weeds” of the sea play an essential role in our ecosystems. Seaweeds are marine macroalgae that live attached to rock and other structures in coastal areas. They are one of the foundations of New Zealand’s abundant underwater life and contribute a great deal to the wellbeing of us landlubbers as well.
Surprising Seaweed
Oxygen Producer Galore
Did you know that marine algae produce more than 70% of the oxygen we breath and that you can actually observe it while diving?
