Getting to Niue

Air NZ offer a flight once a week on a Saturday to Niue, and it is hoped that a second fortnightly flight will be available by mid 2012. The flight is just over 3 hours in duration and a warm welcome upon arrival awaits visitors to this friendly island.

Enquire here for your airfare options »

Romantic Niue.

Niue has always been a destination for romantics – but it’s not just for the human kind. Every year at the start of summer, white tip reef sharks gather around sites like Snake Gully and Gothic City for a romantic rendezvous. Their courtship isn’t for the faint hearted – without going into specifics let’s just say it involves a lot of biting and bumping. But for scuba divers, it’s a chance to try out their voyeuristic tendencies. The usually shy white tips will come within a metre of divers as they search for that someone special. Luckily for us, we don’t appear to be their type so we enjoy a front row seat for all the action. The sea snakes too become very amorous during the warmer months. They follow snorkellers and divers about in their search for a soul mate. And when the guys do find the girl of their dreams, they engage in an orgy of sorts with up to half a dozen blokes targeting one female. As they get more and more excited, the ball of snakes rises to the surface and six little heads pop up for a breather before returning to their romantic ritual.

Clear as can be

Every South Pacific Island has a claim to fame for diving – Niue’s is its visibility. Even on a rainy, windy, miserable day, the vis on Niue generally exceeds 30-40 metres – and on a good day reaching distances of up to 80 metres! On dive sites like Snake Gully and Limu Twin Caves, it’s like being on the top of a mountain and gazing down to the valley below. The great thing about great visibility is it allows everyone to see the marine life well before it sees you. Humpback whales don’t like the bubbles from scuba so they rarely come close on a dive, but we can see them as clear as day if they pass us 40 metres away. Likewise, we can get a good view of the occasional hammerheads, sailfish or even whale shark if they choose to keep their distance. Good visibility also makes it virtually impossible to lose your buddy underwater and navigating back to the line is not much of a challenge when you can see it 50 metres away!

Mesmerising Mammals

It’s pretty hard to maintain that cool, calm exterior you’ve worked so long to perfect when a 15-metre humpback whale is swimming slowly towards you. And it’s understandable you want to hold your breath as the whale surfaces just metres away to catch its breath before diving down again. Interactions with humpback whales can happen between July and early October in the waters around Niue when these mammals arrive in Niue’s waters to rest and calve before commencing their long journey back to Antarctica. No two interactions are the same but it’s guaranteed to be a personal experience with no more than a handful of people sharing the moment with you. Niue doesn’t do things in big ways; it prefers to keep things more intimate and memorable. Niue’s spinner dolphins deserve their share of adoration as well. They may not be as attention grabbing as the humpbacks but they manage to swim their way into the hearts of anyone who gets in the water with them. No matter how many times you’ve seen dolphins before, nothing compares to gliding along with the spinners in the warm, clear water of Niue. They stay just beyond reach as the swimmers become immersed in their pod – look for the eyes watching you as you begin to realise we are as much of a curiosity to them as they are to us.

Lonely Planet recently posted snorkeling with whales in Niue as the #1 Adventure activity in the Pacific Islands. Go and see why.

Captivating caverns

Coasting thru an underwater cavern on Niue is like entering another world. Streams of sunlight illuminate the floor of the cave, small torches help to pick out the fish hiding in the darker corners and the amazing visibility makes cavern diving on Niue a pleasure, even for the most claustrophobic. Photographers can’t get enough of the classic silhouette shots of divers at the entrance, the endless blue behind them. Go deeper into some of the caverns and find hidden treasures such as chambers where you can surface and find coconut crabs climbing the walls or sea snakes sleeping curled up around stalagmites.

Decent sized painted crayfish also lurk in some of the darker caves – smug in the knowledge they can’t be taken on scuba!

Fishing during the summer months in Niue is predominantly for tuna and the large schools of juvenile yellow fin and skip jack tuna that arrived earlier this year have given way to their larger equivalent with yellow fin up to 30kg gracing the scales of many local anglers. Billfish are also known to follow these schools of juvenile tuna and true to form a couple of good sized sailfish have been landed as well. Huge work up of birds continues to lure local anglers out and the charter boats continue to be busy. Being an isolated Island means you have to get clever – an interesting, fast and effective way to launch your boat will certainly add to the excitement!

Fishing around FAD’s (fish aggregating devices) are also a great way to add to the fishing experience as they attract all kinds of trophy pelagics from tunas, mahi-mahi, wahoo and the occasional billfish. More FAD’s will be deployed in the coming month allowing them ample time in the water to mature for the upcoming Black Heart Fishing Tournament which will be held in June 09th – 15th.  By then, the main target species will be mahi-mahi and wahoo which will give any experienced angler a good work out.

FAD’s are also being deployed which will allow spearo’s right of way. Mike Smith of Ocean Hunter in Auckland led a group of spearo’s to Niue in search of some possible world record fish. A number of mahi-mahi were taken along with a 32kg GT.

A second fortnightly Air New Zealand flight looks likely to come online mid-year which will coincide quite nicely with the lead up to the annual Wahoo Fishing Tournament which will be held in September 14th – 21st. The inaugural International Wahoo Tournament last year featured on Geoff Thomas' show, Rheem Outdoors with Geoff in February and has sparked a lot of interest in this year’s event. "Niue has some of the best wahoo fishing I have found anywhere and combined with the hospitality, whales sprouting right by the boat and the week of fun and fishing; we look forward to returning in September". Geoff Thomas.

Namukulu Cottages & Spa

Has 4 beautifully appointed self-contained cottages set in lush tropical gardens with sweeping sea views from the deck & lounge.  The units are complete with kitchen facilities and are well geared up for self catering. All cottages contain their own barbeques on their private deck. A breakfast starter pack is provided on arrival. 

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Matavai

In Niuean, the name “Matavai” means "to look at the water," and water plays a major role in the character of the Resort, with 2 freshwater swimming pools and spectacular views of the clear, blue Pacific.
This magnificent resort is located on a cliff top with dramatic, panoramic, 180-degree view of the South Pacific Ocean. 

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Other Activities

• Caving
• 4x4 Tour
• Reef walks
• Cultural Experiences
• Mountain biking
• Exploring

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Regards - "THE DIVE & FISHING TEAM" - Dive Fish Snow Travel Auckland
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