Mt Maunganui Underwater Club

Mt Maunganui Underwater Club The Mount Maunganui Underwater Club is one of the largest and oldest dive clubs in New Zealand, with a long and varied history dating back to 1956.

Short History of Mount Maunganui Underwater

The club was originally called the Mount Maunganui Spearfishing Club in 1956 with an average of twelve members. Scuba gear was virtually unknown or in its very infancy. Obviously all were free divers and around the Mount itself there were many very large Paua and if you wanted a feed of crays ,mussels and paua you just needed to go along the Rabbit Isl

and side of the “blowhole” (Moturiki Island)
And there were plenty of everything for all. Many of the spearguns were handmade out of rimu with all the fittings coming from “Sportsworld” in Auckland. Some of the big double rubber guns had five inch Academy reels screwed underneath the trigger area of the gun with thirty meters of heavy cord wound on for those real big kingies !! Today (2012) we still have many trophies awarded annually and donated from those very early club members like . The John Simms cup for heaviest Kingfish
John Rawlinson Cup for most species speared
The Graham Barnett Cup for most meritorious catch. In these very early days you could go to Rabbit Island and easily get a sack of large crays and then sell some to the Domain Motor Campers for two shillings or maybe a big one for half a crown (25cents) !! Of course very frowned on now and in fact totally illegal but in those days
No one worried as everything was so plentiful !! When I joined the club in 1970 we used to have cray and mussel dives once a year and put on a seafood dinner at the Mount Sports Centre and from memory the tickets were about $15.00 per head. Also in those early days you could get mussels on scuba and there were literally millions of huge and hairy mussels right near Stoney point on the edge of the main shipping entrance channel. We also got scallops and Paua but not a great deal around in the Paua species even in those days . This annual event became so popular that some people would come up from Wellington each year as they said the food and great value for money was too much to miss out on. We used to sell around 150 tickets to this dinner and a live band to help wear off the gout and calories !! In the 70’s we always met at the Tauranga Aero Club once a month for a social get together and a short committee meeting with a turnout of about thirty members. Dare I admit it but we ran our own bar small that it was but totally illegal in a real “tiny” way. The Aero Club was quite “out of the way” in those days and we had many a great social evening with themes like” Champagne and Rags” where if you came along dressed you went home with very little on that hadn’t been Ripped off”……huge fun and sometimes nearly embarrassing !! Steve Penn our current patron who took me very “kindly” ?? under his wing when I first joined the club would say let’s go out on the runway and chase rabbits !!! This was in his little green Morrie Minor usually near the midnight hour. Yes we did chase some too , more going slightly sideways than straight ahead on the wet grass. Imagine today there would be armed offenders out there to get us !! No real harm was ever done so no complaints ! We used the Aero Club for the next 22 years until we had the great opportunity to join with the Mount Sportfishing Club and Mount Yacht Club to try and build a combined clubrooms which of course you now all know as the Mount Ocean Sports Club and we would be the envy of any dive club in Australasia having such wonderful facilities as this and in such a great location. We moved into the building in 1993 and continue to enjoy this wonderful asset right up to the present day

Russ Hawkins

21/06/2026

Big things are on the horizon. We're excited to share the first look at plans for the future of 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐎𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛. More room, better facilities, and an enhanced waterfront experience, all while staying true to the club we know and love.

Shaping the future of your club. Coming in 2026. Follow the journey here! 🎣⛵️🤿

June Newsletter is out now!Click here:https://mmuc.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Newsletter_June2026.pdf Or visit th...
01/06/2026

June Newsletter is out now!

Click here:
https://mmuc.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Newsletter_June2026.pdf
Or visit the website.

Club Meeting - 4th June
31/05/2026

Club Meeting - 4th June

REMINDER: This Thursday, 14th May is the club AGM. Note earlier start time of 7pm. Look forward to seeing you there!
11/05/2026

REMINDER: This Thursday, 14th May is the club AGM. Note earlier start time of 7pm. Look forward to seeing you there!

Don't miss this talk by underwater legend, Andrew Penniket.
03/05/2026

Don't miss this talk by underwater legend, Andrew Penniket.

There has been a cancellation on this sold out trip. Contact Liz@divezonetauranga.co.nz for more details
29/04/2026

There has been a cancellation on this sold out trip.
Contact [email protected] for more details

24/04/2026
Stunning vis at Tuhua Reef, Mayor Island today on the club trip. Many thanks to Orca Wild Adventures for taking us out. ...
08/03/2026

Stunning vis at Tuhua Reef, Mayor Island today on the club trip. Many thanks to Orca Wild Adventures for taking us out. Also, thanks to Gavin for running the trip while Russ was away and to Murray our deckhand.

The club had a very successful "Shallow and Sheltered" trip to the western side of Motiti Is yesterday. Good vis, warm w...
02/03/2026

The club had a very successful "Shallow and Sheltered" trip to the western side of Motiti Is yesterday. Good vis, warm water, plenty of fish seen and a few crays caught. Many thanks to the crew of Orca Wild Adventures , Glen the organizer and Murray for being our deckhand.

Address

42 The Mall, Salisbury Wharf
Mount Maunganui
3116

Opening Hours

Monday 11am - 10pm
Tuesday 11am - 10pm
Wednesday 11am - 10pm
Thursday 11am - 10pm
Friday 11am - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 10pm

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