Wettie is one of the most recognized spearfishing brands in New Zealand. Thanks to our international correspondent, Valentina Prokic, Apnea Passion Magazine visited the Wettie headquarters and flagship store in Auckland. Valentina discovered an impressive place, packed with equipment, innovation and a strong passion for the ocean. The store features the full Wettie range together with many well-known international brands.
During the visit, Valentina also had the opportunity to talk with the founder and owner of Wettie, Darren Shields, six-time New Zealand spearfishing champion. Darren has transferred decades of experience into the development of Wettie products. Spearfishing excellence clearly runs in the family: both his father and his son have also won the national title, making the Shields family a unique three-generation legacy in New Zealand spearfishing.
The Origins of Wettie: A New Zealand Spearfishing Brand
In the global world of spearfishing and freediving equipment, some brands stand out not only for the quality of their products, but also for the strong connection they maintain with the environment in which they were born. Wettie is one of those companies. Founded in New Zealand, the brand has grown from a small garage operation into one of the leading names in spearfishing gear and wetsuits in the country and abroad, building its reputation on a philosophy that combines practical diving experience, local knowledge, and continuous product development.
The story of Wettie begins in 2007, when founder Darren Shields set out to create a range of spearfishing equipment specifically designed for the demanding conditions of New Zealand waters. With more than four decades of experience spanning commercial diving, competitive spearfishing and recreational underwater hunting, Shields understood that the techniques and environmental conditions faced by New Zealand divers required equipment tailored to local realities.
Rather than relying exclusively on designs developed in Europe, South Africa or the United States, the idea behind Wettie was to combine the best components and design principles from different global traditions and adapt them to the specific needs of New Zealand spearfishing. From shallow reef hunting to the pursuit of powerful pelagic species such as kingfish, divers require gear capable of performing in very diverse underwater environments. This “designed by divers for divers” approach quickly became the foundation of the Wettie brand.
From Garage Startup to Leading Spearfishing Equipment Company
Over the years, Wettie has expanded far beyond its original beginnings. Today the company operates a large retail facility in Albany, Auckland, together with a major online store that ships spearfishing equipment and wetsuits across New Zealand and internationally, including Australia, Canada and the United States. This growth reflects the increasing recognition of the brand among both New Zealand divers and the international spearfishing community.
A key step in the company’s development was the acquisition of a local wetsuit manufacturer, which allowed Wettie to strengthen its in-house production capabilities. This move enabled the company to develop proprietary wetsuit patterns, improve the fit and performance of its suits, and offer repair, warranty and alteration services. At the same time, it gave the team deeper technical knowledge about how to design wetsuits that combine warmth, durability and comfort.
Today Wettie’s product range spans wetsuits, spearguns, fins, masks and snorkels, all developed with a strong focus on practical field experience and engineering refinement. Despite its growth, the company has maintained its identity as a family-run business closely connected to the diving community.
A large store combining retail, workshop and customer service
The Wettie store in Auckland is impressive: spacious, modern and packed with equipment. Alongside the full Wettie product range, divers can also find gear from well-known international brands such as C4 Carbon, JBL, DiveR, Picasso, Neptonics, Suunto and Pathos.
What really stands out, however, is the depth of the Wettie range. Visitors can find everything from traditional spearguns with single or double rubber setups to roller spearguns, wetsuits in many sizes and configurations — including dedicated models for women and children — as well as floats, fins, masks, bags and accessories.
The store is not only a retail space but also a place where divers can receive expert advice, technical assistance and product support from experienced staff.
The need for a New Zealand brand
“Every time I went to Europe people asked me to bring them back some equipment as we did not have any proper spearfishing supplies in New Zealand. So we created our own brand“, says Darren. “Also, in our stores, for example, masks where offered in plastic bags with the snorkel, so people chose them by the price and look, without even having the possibility to try them on. So I decided we needed a huge supply of different models easy to try on, being able to check which one fitted best the face of one or the other customer. We have highly prepared staff to help our customers and make them go to sea with the correct gear. We want also to make our own products, high quality and affordable, and that we can also customize a little bit”.
Spearguns, classic and roller
Wettie offers both traditional spearguns and roller spearguns, covering different spearfishing styles and preferences.
“We sell around 30% of roller spearguns and 70% classic solutions“, says Darren Shields. “But what we have noticed is that new spearos find it difficult to reload a roller speargun with open muzzle. So we design and produce the first closed muzzle roller solution, extremely easy to load. Designed and produced in New Zealand, this solution is as easy to load as a standard speargun and works really well. We do also import and sell the open roller muzzle spearguns, and we are designing a new open roller muzzle which will be made here in New Zealand”.
Floats
“As you might know, in New Zealand we have a big shark problem. So I created the first float boat that was ever made that wont sink. You can fill the buoy full of fish, lie on it, and it will still float. So sharks wont know where your fish are. Also, the float will help you in long transfers as you can lie on it, but also it has no drag compared to traditional buoys. Also, it is very visible to boats, so a great safety device. It has got strong handles. It comes in 4 sizes and multiple colours, and it is all New Zealand made and design by myself and my son“.
“I also produce a smaller float that I also designed. The idea comes from the fact that if you have a flag on your buoy you need a weight at its base to avoid it from blowing over. But big leads at its base are heavy to carry, and if you are traveling overseas they are not practical. So I decided to put water in the bottom chamber, so it becomes your ballast to keep your float upright. And when you come out of the water all the water runs out and the float is again nice and light. Also, the attachment of the flag is made to fold down when it goes in the bag. So you dont need to take off the flag every time”.
Wetsuits
“We have different designs and colours. What I discovered with European wetsuits is that they are a little bit short in the torso area, while New Zealanders are quite long in the torso. So we redesigned all our wetsuits to fit New Zealanders. But actually, we have more and more requests of customers from around the world for our wetsuits, as they fit them better.
We make basic styles and commercial ones. We are very strong with the latter. For example we have designed our own knee pads, called Scales, with a number of overlapped neoprene elements. They come with scupper for males and females also. We are also very flexible and adjust our wetsuits for any need, thanks to our dedicated staff.
Our wetsuits come with knife pockets, on the arm and the leg, and we give a dedicated knife with our wetsuits. Our offer of wetsuits for females is also very large and a big part of our business. Many people in New Zealand are actually coming back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and females are leaders in this. So it is great we have so many women coming into the sport.
So we have dedicated cuts for women, and also any size for any body, even if we don’t have custom made. And we can fit little children starting from 8 years old. We have for them a full range with camouflages the same as adults, so for example the same as mum and dad.
We use very soft neoprene for children wetsuits, such as Yamamoto #39. Expensive, but children are warm and comfortable. We don’t make a lot of money out of these, but I hope as adults they will still buy Wettie.
We also use another special neoprene from Japan for our Signature wetsuit. It is more durable, warmer and softer, it is just better all around. We launched it on our Signature line. We are the only country outside of Japan to have such neoprene. It has taken seven years to get it”.
For wetsuits the Wettie store is also equipped with showers and changing rooms so customers can properly try them on and achieve the best possible fit.
Fins
“We sell a lot of C4 fins, as they are incredible quality (Best Choice 2025 by Apnea Passion), and we also sell our own fins that C4 makes for us. For example composite blade fins, which are incredibly good. They are soft and easy to use. The foot pocket is the lightest on the market.
We also have plastic fins from Taiwan and China and we sell several thousands fins a year. DiveR blades are also available, as they are the Australian masters of building composite blades. We sell New Zealand made composite blades too”.
Freshwater World Spearfishing Championship
“We only have one lake where it is possible to spearfish, Lake Taupō. There are catfish and trout, but the latter we are not allowed to spearfish. So the World Championship is held to catch as many catfish as possible, as they are invasive and eat all the food of the trout. For such reason local people are happy about this event. And all championships in the lake are participated by a huge number of strong athletes. The catfish will then be used as fertilizer”.
The battle against wasteful commercial fishing
“Recently I came across a whole lot of dead fish all over the surface of the ocean that had been thrown away from a trawler because they were undersize. So I started to speak up against bottom trawling, which is not the way for the future. We cannot afford to waste fish, there is not enough in the ocean.
So the Minister of Fishery in parliament called me ‘Just some Weekend Spearfisherman‘. So I’ve become famous for this and have my own T-Shirt printed now. Even though, in my recent post I explained to them I have been spearfishing for 55 years!
I have seen the decline of fish numbers, and I have seen the waste. And I have also worked as a commercial fisherman on boats. So I understand it better than the Ministry does. He has never had his head underwater from what I am aware.
So I am selling these shirts to go to the fight and stop bottom trawling, not commercial fishing, but wasteful fishing. And I am having so much support by the people! They want that Minister to be removed from parliament if he does not stand up for recreational fishermen, and doesn’t stand up for the good of the ocean.
He is standing up for money, and commercial fishing and making money. But he is not looking long term for what is good for the ocean, and leaving some fish for our children. Because at the end of the day we are borrowing these fish from our children!”
