Golden Bay and Nelson
Pearse Resurgence
Info · exploration
Information only: this cave is dived by a small group of New Zealand cave divers and expeditions, and we know no dive centre, guide or club that takes visitors.
- Max depth245 m
- CertificationFull cave
- SpecialExperienced divers
Diving and fills
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Now at Pearse Resurgence
The dive
The water of every cave under Mount Arthur, the Nettlebed system included, comes out here at the head of the valley as the start of the Pearse.
1 earlier accident or incident has been reported at this cave. Read what happened ↓
Profile and sections
The water of every cave under Mount Arthur, the Nettlebed system included, comes out here at the head of the valley as the start of the Pearse. Underwater a dark shaft drops steeply in 6–7 °C water; divers have found at least three undescribed species in it.
The resurgence was first dived in 1975. The 2007 expedition reached -177 m, with a habitat at -6 m where the divers did part of their decompression; -194 m (2011), -217 m (2014) and -229 m (2016) followed. In February 2020 Richard Harris and Craig Challen reached -245 m and the shaft was still going down. According to Dive Pacific, by then seven people had been past -150 m and three past -200 m. The documentary Deeper (2025) follows Harris's team here.
Practical: expedition work only, with helicopter flights and the support of a New Zealand team.
- Depth and profile
- Deep shaft · explored to -245 m (2020) and still descending · the main shaft bottoms at -105 m, a side passage (Brooklyn Exit) ~-160 m
- Configuration
- Expedition dive: rebreathers (sidemount too), heated undersuits, underwater decompression habitats and communications. The 2020 dive took 17 hours, 16 of them decompression.
Who can dive where
- At least Full cave
- Configurations: Backmount / twinset / Sidemount / CCR
- Configuration unknown — research beforehand
- Goes down to 245 m (trimix or deco may be needed)
- Experienced divers only
This is how the planner decides who in your team may dive this cave. Rules your own trip adds (organizer, a mail, the AI) show with your trip.
How to get there
In Kahurangi National Park, at the head of the Pearse Valley below Mount Arthur. On foot by DOC's route from the end of Pearse Valley Road: 3 hours one way, expert grade, with many unbridged river crossings (the first 2 km over private land). Expeditions fly divers and gear in by helicopter.
Around Pearse Resurgence
FillsNo fill station known nearby
News
All (1)
Accidents and incidents
What happened at this cave before, with the sources. No names are given; read it as a lesson for your own planning.
- On 20 May 1995 a diver died in a shaft of the Pearse Resurgence; two divers recovered the body in January 1997.
Access and rules change: check what applies locally right before your trip. Source: GDELT Project and the news feeds of diving magazines. Search for more news ↗ Searched automatically, last on 5 Nov 2026.
No provider in Golden Bay and Nelson yet
The caves here are listed as information only: we don't know a dive centre, guide or club yet that takes visitors, so you can't plan a trip here yet. Do you know one, or are you one? Let us know.