New Zealand · Fiordland
Sheltered-cove start leading into a fish-rich Fiordland wall.
Sheltered-cove start leading into a fish-rich Fiordland wall.
Butterfly Wall starts quietly in a sheltered cove before the bottom tightens into a proper Fiordland wall on both sides of the site. Divers come here for kelp-covered reef, large schools of butterfly perch, wrasses, and the darker wall sections where small black coral appears, making it a good scenic progression from a gentle beginning into a more dramatic wall profile. It works best as a deliberately paced dive that uses the cove as the easy start and then reads the wall carefully as the terrain steepens.
Site Conditions
Safety Notes
Use the sheltered cove to settle the dive before moving onto the wall, and keep a conservative eye on depth, visibility, and buddy spacing as the terrain steepens.
Access Restrictions
Most visits are arranged by local boat operator as part of a Fiordland wall-diving itinerary.
Legal Notes
Fiordland marine habitats, including black coral communities, should be treated as protected and left undisturbed.
Community notes to help plan your visit.
Scuba Diving
Starts as a gentle slope in a sheltered cove before developing into a steep wall dive on both sides.
Freediving
Experienced freedivers can use the gentler cove and upper wall, but the site's main wall character still calls for conservative depth choices.
Snorkeling
Snorkel use is most realistic in the sheltered cove rather than along the steeper wall sections that define the site.
Last Updated
Research Sources
Advanced Fiordland wall dive with black coral and steep relief.
Sheltered Fiordland beach-and-wall dive with kelp and black coral.
Remote Fiordland cove with black coral and steep walls.