Aramoana Mole

The man made structure at Aramoana called the Mole, was built in 1885 to protect and direct the tidal current through the entrance of the Otago harbour. The Mole is one kilometre long and wide enough to drive a car down, made from rock boulders quarried from a nearby cliff. The rocks slope down to a sandy bottom where the maximum depth near the gate is 7 metres and at the far end of the Mole the depth gets down to 22 metres. At this end of the Mole there are several fur seals and Hooker sea lions sunbathing on the rocks, with the occasional blue penguin frolicking about.

In the 1920's through to the 1950's, several ships were scuttled alongside the habour side of the Mole to reinforce the structure. There are now five diveable wrecks to explore with a fantastic array of sponges, ascidians, anemones and sea tulips covering the walls of the old ships laid to rest. There are a variety of kelps - in shades of red, green and brown, and diving through them is a truly unique experience. The right hand side of the Mole is also a voluntary marine reserve therefore an abundance of fish are to be found weaving their way in and out of the hulks. Blue moki, trumpeter, scarlet wrasse, banded wrasse, tarakihi, blue cod, red cod, butterfish, butterfly perch, marblefish and spotties are all very common at the Mole. Another unique thing to keep your eyes peeled for are Wellington nudibranchs. They weave their yellow or white eggs into a beautiful spiral pattern. Out on the sand you will see feather duster worms extending their elaborate gills whilst feeding from any current. If you want your buddy to see them as well, be careful not to go too close or to point at them as they are very sensitive to light and shadows, and will slip back into the sand before you know it. Occasionally you may see a sea horse or carpet shark, while common conger eels, octopus and crayfish can all be found on night dives.