Spearfishing Wellington and Cook Strait
Wellington is a tidal-stream coast: Cook Strait runs hard and reverses on a schedule, so the dive is planned around slack water and a southerly is a hard stop.
The south coast is the ground - Breaker Bay and Moa Point at the harbour mouth, Red Rocks/Pariwhero and Sinclair Head west of the Taputeranga reserve, Lyall Bay East reef outside the boundary, Palmer Head and Pencarrow Head at the entrance with depth close in, and Boom Rock at Makara, a 45-minute walk for an exposed Cook Strait reef with kingfish, blue cod and moki. Inside the harbour Scorching Bay, Worser Bay and Point Halswell are the foul-weather options, 2-10 m and calm almost always. North on the Kapiti Coast: Titahi Bay's fossil-forest platform, Whitireia North Head, Paekakariki and the shore opposite Kapiti Island. Fish: butterfish, blue moki, red moki, tarakihi, snapper, kingfish, blue cod, plus crayfish, paua and kina.
Summer into autumn, on slack water. Cook Strait tidal streams run hard and reverse on a schedule; dive the slack or do not dive. Wellington south coast visibility collapses after a southerly, and the coast reads a bad sector around 140-220 degrees, so a southerly change is a hard stop rather than an inconvenience. Water 12-18 C.
Rules: no licence. Wellington is in the MPI Central area: 20 finfish combined per fisher per day, blue cod 2/day at 33 cm in FMA 8 (Taranaki to Titahi Bay) and 20/day in FMA 2 (Titahi Bay to Cape Runaway), paua 5/day. Crayfish may never be speared. Two closures matter: Island Bay / Taputeranga Marine Reserve is no-take with spearfishing banned, and Pukerua Bay on the Kapiti Coast is closed to all fishing and gathering other than by hand-held line - which rules out spearfishing there entirely. Kapiti Marine Reserve has an eastern section roughly 2 km off Waikanae Beach. See https://www.mpi.govt.nz/fishing-aquaculture/recreational-fishing/fishing-rules and https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/marine-reserves/. Safety, conditionally: hard tidal streams at the harbour entrance and in the strait, fur seals hauled out at Red Rocks and Sinclair Head, and a southerly change that ends the day.
Top spots
| Spot | Nearest city | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Moa Point | Wellington | Two things are known about «Moa Point»: 2 people saved a point here,… |
| Waikanae Beach South | Kāpiti | Sandy shore opposite the eastern section of the Kapiti reserve, 2–7 m. |
| Days Bay North Rocks | Lower Hutt | Rocks at the north end of Days Bay, Eastbourne, around 1-7 m by… |
| Pencarrow Head | Wellington | The eastern head at the harbour entrance, cliffs and boulders with… |
| Point Brown (Rona Bay) | Lower Hutt | Point Brown is the rocky point beside the Eastbourne (Rona) wharf, a… |
| Titahi Bay Reef | Kāpiti | Intertidal platform with a fossil Pleistocene forest set in the rock,… |
Reserves & no-take zones
- Taputeranga Marine Reserve — No-take / spearfishing banned: Spearfishing banned in this protected marine zone.
- Pukerua Bay (FRA6187) — Spearfishing banned: Spearfishing banned in this protected marine zone.
Cities in this region
FAQ
Can you spearfish at Pukerua Bay?
No. Pukerua Bay is closed to all fishing and seafood gathering other than by hand-held lines, which rules out spearfishing there. It is a closure separate from the marine reserves.
Where does the Taputeranga reserve stop?
Island Bay / Taputeranga Marine Reserve is no-take. Breaker Bay and Moa Point sit east of it and Red Rocks/Pariwhero and Sinclair Head west of it - our Lyall Bay East card notes the boundary runs close, so read the DOC map rather than eyeballing it.
How do you deal with the current?
By diving slack. Cook Strait tidal streams run hard and reverse on a schedule, so the tide table decides the dive. The harbour bays (Scorching, Worser, Point Halswell) are the calm-water option when the strait is running.
What are the blue cod limits?
The FMA 8 / FMA 2 boundary runs at Titahi Bay: 2 blue cod per day at 33 cm west and north of it, 20 per day east of it. Same 33 cm minimum, whole or gutted only.
See also: Taranaki & Western NI · Nelson & Marlborough Sounds